September 17, 2008
Michele’s Happy 40th birthday Day
Last winter, Kathy asked me if I would be interested in going to North Carolina to surprise Michele for her 40th birthday. I checked into airfare and found two tickets at a great price and with a good schedule and the surprise was on.
Then came summer and the 8 weeks Michele and the kids spent with us trying to find a remedy for Justin’s headaches. I had to work at not exposing the secret and wasn’t quite sure how well I had done.
Then came Erika’s announcement that her wedding would be September 26, one day after our return from NC. I wasn’t comfortable with that schedule since our flight was due in at midnight of the 25th. What if something went wrong and we were delayed? I didn’t want to risk that so I changed our tickets to bring us home on the 24th instead.
For some reason Michele’s birthday would often slide under the radar with the family – an afterthought sometimes – so it seemed that we owed her big time and her 40th seemed like the time for pay back.
Kathy and I left at 8:30 AM for our 11:45 departure. Note to self: Long term parking is way off the airport grounds. Thankfully, we still have plenty of time for check-in and security.
Our flight got into JFK early and I tried to call Michele to make her think I was in Maine. No answer. Probably a good thing since the loud speaker kept announcing the boarding calls and flight numbers. I may have had some explaining to do if she heard that.
Our flight got into Charlotte early, too, and Nicole’s beau, Nathan, was there to pick us up. This gave us a good time to get to know him more since when he’s around Kevin, he probably doesn’t dare speak up. J “What do you want me to call you?” he asked us. “I’m okay with first names but I don’t want to be disrespectful. And, I don’t think ‘ant’ will work,” he teased. We assured him it had to “Aunt” or just our first names would be fine. I decided to call Michele from the van and chatted for about a half hour, catching up with the family news as if I wouldn’t be seeing her within minutes. “Has Kathy called you yet?” I asked with her sitting right in the front seat. We finally said good-bye and within a couple of minutes we pulled into the yard. Only 3 people in all of NC knew we were coming. Carrie opened the door. It’s Aunt Kathy and Aunt Susan!” she and Justin yelled in disbelief. We shocked everyone. Michele was overcome and just stood there trying to comprehend how I could have gotten from Maine to NC so fast. In no time we all hopped into the Suburban and went right over to the school to see Nicole who was in the computer room. Carrie took a bad spill getting out of the car and began screaming. “Carrie needs you,” Nathan told Nicole as he brought her out from the library. “Why does Carrie need me?” Nicole kept asking. “Oh, Carrie, you’ll be alright,” she said a little annoyed. Kathy and I were sitting on a bench up against the wall and waited for Nicole to turn around to return back to work. She stopped in her tracks when she saw us, taking a few minutes to comprehend what she was seeing. The kids just can’t believe how well Randy kept the secret from them. Poor Rachel is suffering with poison ivy… Stephanie is suffering with an ear infection… and Justin still has headaches. He’s seeing a doctor who can use manipulation that moves them from one side of his head to other but cannot relieve them. It’s hard to picture what is going on inside that young man’s head. Not even an MRI can see it. We grabbed a quick sandwich, changed our clothes and then were off to prayer meeting with a birthday celebration after. Randy did the inviting, and the serving, but Michele made the cakes. At prayer meeting we met a number of people who will be traveling up to the wedding next Wed. One will get home before I do. “Just leave the light on for me,” I asked. |
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