"The Element of Surprise"

I love a good surprise, don't you?  Something that takes you totally, well... by surprise! Something that makes your mind say, "What the...?", your heart go 'BoInG!', and your knees go weebly-wobbly. It's always fun to be on the receiving end of a surprise, but it's totally awesome to be on the plotting end. And I know this because... I've just been a plotter myself!

As many of you may know, I'm kinda close to my Mom and sisters, who live 'back home' in the Maritimes. Although we are miles apart, we are always close in heart. When we thought we would be living in Montreal by the Fall, plans were flying amock about having Christmas together, as a family, for the first time in twenty years. Well, life is known for throwing you curveballs, thus we will be calling Alberta  home for a little longer. And that's okay. But my longing for a visit with my mom and sisters  was taking over my daily thoughts. We had the reward points for me to make a sojourn to the East, then more unexpected developments seemed to make a trip home 'out of the question'. (Color me blue, here).

But, and that's a big BUT... another little miracle came my way and within a span of ten minutes, I was planning a "SuRpRiSe" with lifted spirits. Woop Woop!!

With help from "the love of my life", a good family friend back home, and my unaware mother, the whole event went in to motion: 1 phone chat with my mom, 1 visit to the Aeroplan website, 1 phonecall to the friend back home, 2 promises from my children to keep their lips sealed, 3 days of laundry, packing, grocery shopping. cooking and cleaning, 2 plane rides, and 1 night at said friend's home later... the "SuRpRiSe" was about to unfold! 

Picture a ladies church luncheon, the hustle and bustle, the jibbering and jabbereing, some recognizing me as I arrived and thus receiving that non-verbal motion of 'locking their lips', the music folk warming up and sound checking, ladies arriving with their delicious food contributions, the dilemma of who's sitting where, our friend trying to steer my mother and sister to a location where their backs would be to my point of entrance... all while I'm locked in the rector's office (in case my mother tried to walk in and drop something off on his desk, which she quite possibly would do!), hiding in a back corner, reading, but not really reading because I'm too excited, the latest edition of 'Reader's Digest', and wondering if my friend, or one of our two new co-conspiritors, would come and get me when the time was right. We hadn't actually planned that part out!

But, no worries. As the 'ladies who lunch' settled into their seats, I was retrieved from my secret local, whisked under the cloak of a jacket, and like magic... appeared in front of my mother and sister. WOW! The silent signs of shock and disbelief were instant... the hands to the chest, the big eyes, and the open mouths of surprise. Then tears of joy started flowing in abundance and there were bears hugs all around. I'm all shivery now, remembering the moment. Others joined in with their own tears and happy smiles. It was fantastic!

The day just flowed from there... simply gorgeous, sun shining, temperature an unbelievable plus 20 degrees, a drive through the country, picture taking, two ferry crossings, a big hug from my brother-in-law, and moments of absolute hilarity. It was the best of days!

The time will go by too quickly, I know. We will pack what we can into each day. Some moments we'll be crazy busy, with laughter spurring us on. Others, we'll be quiet, content just to be near each other. And whenever we look at each other, we'll smile and shake our heads, still reeling a bit from the surprise of it all. We'll feel all warm and fuzzy inside. We'll feel lucky and blessed. 

And why will we feel these things?
Well, no surprise there. We are family.

I hope each of you experience the joy of "SuRpRiSe" in your life, whether giving or receiving.
Although it doesn't appear on the 'Periodic Table', it is an 'element' of great worth.


   
Keep on keeping on... bArB :)