My wife generally hates surprises. She likes things pretty well ordered; likes to know what is coming so she can plan for it; and likes to plan responses for things before they happen. It's just the way she is, and I've taught myself to live with it since there is a part of me that tends to be very spontaneous, playful, and surprising. Generally, I don't try to spring things on my wife at the last minute or do things to purposely surprise her.
I said generally. I do make exceptions.
This year, we are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary. I'm a guy who likes to celebrate the "fives". For our fifth anniversary, I booked us a room in the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel in San Antonio, and we went and saw the musical/dance group Stomp. For our 10th anniversary, we spent several days in Galveston going to Moody Gardens and the beach. For our 15th we had planned a trip to take our kids to Disney World in Florida. Well, those plans were scrapped when our youngest was born. We are going to wait until he's a little older and can enjoy the trip more.
So, now that those plans had been scrapped, I was in a pickle wondering how I'd do something memorable to mark the 15th. I decided to go for the gusto even if it risked upsetting my wife; I decided to surprise her with a vacation cruise.
Six months ago, I began working with my travel agents who are also members of my congregation. DJ and Camille Cramer are two awesome people and excellent travel agents who run Ahoy and Sail Away out of their home here in Cat Spring. They helped keep this thing a surprise from the get go.
For cost purposes, we scheduled the trip in October--a big shout out to my parents who were also in on the surprise as they graciously decided to care for our kids while we were gone. Then the waiting began. Six months of it. Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret from your spouse for six months?
I decided to tell as few people as possible. The only folks who knew were myself, the Cramers, my parents, and my church secretary. (Hey, I had to inform her because of scheduling it on the church calendar!) My philosophy: the fewer who know, the less chance someone will spill the beans.
Then, I began coming up with an excuse to spring the surprise on her. I invited family to come to Cat Spring to celebrate the anniversary. I coached it as a "Thank you for putting up with me for 15 years party!" for my wife. This gave her something to focus on as our anniversary approached. I was hoping she'd be overwhelmed with the details of the party as it was approaching and miss any offhand comments I might make. (There were one or two, but thankfully, they did no damage to the surprise.)
On the day of the party, we were laying out lunch, and I was thanking everyone for coming, and DJ and Camille walked in with a bucket full of goods. My wife knew something was up right then, but she still didn't expect it when they handed her a card with the cruise date on it. She was absolutely speechless!
She managed to walk around the rest of the day with that "I can't believe this" look on her face. It was priceless. Oh, and the best part about it--I didn't get in trouble for it. I think she actually can acknowledge now that some surprises are worth it!
Wonder if I can come up with another one someday?
Happy Anniversary, Hon! Look forward to another 15 years at the very least!
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