Cary, North Carolina
I’ll be home on 11 December at 3:45pm. Or so I told my parents.
In actuality, I arrived on 6 December at 4:55pm.
I wanted to surprise my parents by arriving home early. And surprise them I did. My second family fetched me from the airport and filmed my arrival at the house. My neighbor helped by ensuring my parents would be home that evening. I couldn’t have done this without them.
My heart was pounding as we got closer to my house. We turned down the street and OH NO! My mom was walking our dog and was presently at our neighbor’s house! I quickly ducked down below the car window and we drove up the street past my house to wait. I just couldn’t show up at the house until Mom returned home!
A few minutes went by and we decided it was time for the big surprise.
Genevieve, my dog, was sitting on the front porch as the weather was beautiful that evening. She started barking as we reached the top of the driveway drawing my mom out of the house to see what was happening. She sees me as I’m walking down the driveway and her facial expression was one of disbelief and confusion. She was staring at me, not saying a word, not even making a sound. After several long seconds I casually say “Surprise” and we embrace at the top of the stairs. Hardly a word spoken.
Opening the front door, Mom shouts inside to my dad, “Bill, we have company!” My father comes to the door. Not one for many words, he looks just as surprised as my mom did. We embrace as the dog paces the porch trying to be in the middle of the excitement. My favorite phrase Dad said was, “This is… strange.” One happy family. If only my sister was there to be with us.
After dinner, Mom and I drove to my grandmother’s house to surprise her. I knocked on the door and waited for her to answer it. Of the three, Nannie was the most animated upon seeing me. “STOP!” she says, “YOU!” Disbelief and excitement. Ninety six years young and as sprite as ever.
It felt incredible to be home, back in the town where I grew up with the people I love the most. A wonderful evening and a great way to start my four week visit in North Carolina.
A video of my family’s reactions can be seen at this link: http://youtu.be/Zv45lo7haJI
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