The first occurred in college - it was my sophomore year at Stanford and Mother's Day was approaching. For the first time, all of us kids were away at school. We really didn't want her to spend that day without any of her kids, so Greg and I conspired to drive home and surprise her for the big day. The look on her face when it came time for the big reveal was priceless. Definitely more than worth the 8 hour drive (it would have been 5 hours for Greg if he had driven alone, but I need at least 3 potty breaks on a trip like that).
The second occurred about 12 years ago. My mom had a best friend through high school named Beth, and had stayed close with her even after they got married. Somehow, they lost touch and they had not spoken to or seen each other in 20 years. I grew up hearing stories of the two of them, and fantasized about someday bringing them back together. Yep, that's the romantic in me, always itching for a happy ending.
With the help of my dad and a mutual friend of theirs (Laurel), we were able to locate Beth, who was living in Los Angeles. We hatched a plan to surprise Mom at a birthday lunch we had arranged for her at my then-boyfriend's home. The anticipation of the reunion was huge and oh, so exciting. I remember the doorbell ringing, and telling my mom to go get it. She looked at me quizzically and all I said was "I think it's for you." She opened the door to see her long-lost friend Beth (and Laurel, whom she also hadn't seen in many years), and was so stunned she just about lost it. I simply welled up at the sight of seeing my mom so overjoyed. They all spent several hours visiting and laughing, and swore to never lose each other again. It didn't exactly turn out like that, but that day still stands so vividly in my mother's mind (when I asked some questions about it today, she said she even remembers what she was wearing that day).
The third and most recent surprise occurred in the past couple of weeks for Lauren. On January 2nd she was still off school, her last day of winter break. When she woke in the morning, I told her there was a surprise for her on the family room ottoman. She rushed out to search for the toy she thought was waiting for her. Instead, she got this:
It was only 6:15 a.m., but I can assure you that one little girl was instantly wide awake (and pulling on me to "go, go, go!!"). As it was a holiday, there was zero freeway traffic and we made it to the Mickey and Friends parking structure in 18 minutes. Not too shabby.
At 7:45 a.m., we cleared the entrance and began walking towards what has become our traditional first ride of the day - Small World. Except we had a major diversion to attend to on our way. You see, I had one more gigantic surprise for her. You'll just have to watch to find out:
Yes, her girl cousins and Aunt Stacie. A few nights earlier, I was on the phone with Stacie and she told me that since her girls were on winter break the entire following week and Greg was on call, she decided to whisk the girls on a surprise trip back down to OC for a 3-day stay at Disneyland. I had originally planned to work on the 2nd and take Lauren to a play date, but this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I just couldn't pass up.
Lauren and I stayed from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., which is a record for us (especially with no stroller!). But she didn't complain once and was fueled by adrenaline and the excitement of being with her cousins for the entire day.
A few highlights:
Getting her picture taken with Santa, whom I had not taken her to see in December.
What the heck was Santa still doing here, you might ask (I certainly did). Shouldn't he be snoozing back at the North Pole?
Well, as we saw, his reindeer were still in their reindeer village (conveniently housed at Disneyland, of course), recovering from their long journey. So he needed to hang out for another few days before hightailing it home.
Going on the rocket ride with me (her first "fast" ride).
After this I tried my best to get her to go on one of the roller coasters since she's now big enough, but she wasn't having any of it. Even when her cousins tried to coax her, it was a no go.
Watching the afternoon Holiday Parade down Main Street.
But one of her favorite parts of the day was waiting while everyone else went on the Grizzly River Rapids ride. Lauren staked a spot atop a rock wall at the lookout point where we could see all the rafts come down the waterfall, and spent at least 40 minutes there, cheering on the waterlogged passengers and waiting for our crew to come into sight.
She was certainly in the holiday spirit.
And catching a glimpse of her cousins and aunt as they came through the rapids was more than worth the wait.
Getting the chance to have this day with some of her favorite people, at her absolute favorite place on the planet, is something I hope she will cherish and remember when she looks back on her childhood. I know I will. And now, reading back on this post and the summary of the other surprises I've been fortunate enough to help orchestrate makes me realize that giving really is way better than receiving.
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