The big 55 today

Update:  After all the build-up to the party - when my husband came home from work at 7pm he was so tired from having worked since 3 in the morning that he didn't want to go. He just wanted to eat and go to bed. He didn't even wish me happy birthday. Sad day after all.

 

Mom and Dad's wedding 1954

Me in 1956 one year old

It's my birthday today and of all things today I'm going to my Uncle Randy's surprise birthday party tonight.  It feels kind of strange.  I mean, his birthday isn't for another month and for some reason his wife Vicki wanted to make sure he was surprised by having the party a month ahead of time.

Shesh... I might have wanted to actually do something tonight for my own birthday.

Actually the main reason I didn't put up too much of a stink about going to a birthday party for someone other than myself on my own birthday is because of something that happened a couple of years ago.

My parents flew in from Texas and we had planned a family reunion.  My dad is kind of the one relative who actually "got away" from Kentucky to see the world by joining the military and actually staying away.  We had lived all over the United States and also Puerto Rico.  After 20 plus years in the military my mom and dad moved to Texas and started different businesses that were highly successful and in the more recent years they have retired to Dallas living within 5 minutes of my sister Kathy and her husband Sal.  I'm not saying that none of my relatives ever "got away" or went off to the military.  All 3 of my Dad's brothers were in the military.  Uncle Bill, Uncle Butch and Uncle Randy.  It's just that all the other brother's settled back here in Kentucky when they got out of the military.

But this story is about my Uncle Randy who he came back from Vietnam, he married a woman that I absolutely couldn't get along with and he stayed married for about 30 years and finally divorced her a few years ago.  I for one was so relieved when they divorced because she had henpecked him for so many years.

Okay, back to the story.  All of my other relatives live here in Kentucky.  So on this one day that we were doing the family reunion we had relatives coming out of the woodwork to attend.  Earlier in the day, all of the family who play golf got together and played a round of golf and then we were to meet back to have everyone get together and party.  Uncle Randy, played golf and went home to change clothes then was to meet us all for the party. Aunt Sue, Randy's sister wouldn't even let us dig into the food at the party until everyone arrived and I was starving.  I sat outside on a bench and crocheted as many of the relatives milled around.  During this time I found out that my other Uncle Butch and his wife Phyllis, both crochet. This was news to me!

Everyone and I mean everyone had already arrived and no Randy.  Well about an hour later Aunt Sue ushered everyone inside and my Dad got up and started doing magic tricks and this day seemed to be getting weirder and weirder.  I was horrified.  My dad comes back to town and he's lost his mind doing dorky magic tricks.  I mean... my Dad, doing magic tricks that I remember seeing when I was growing up.  Thenl he started making a speech and like a good little daughter, I sat there listening and then out of the blue... music started.  I thought, what in the world is going on.  Strange people that I knew weren't my relatives came walking in and taking seats and were kind of crouching down like you do in a movie theater when you're late and don't want to disturb people by walking in front of them so you quickly try to hunker down and get a seat.  And of all things, they started filling up all of the available seats in the back rows of the chairs.  I was getting kind of huffy to myself that strangers somehow were coming into the wrong place thinking that they had reserved this spot for their own party.  My entire family was there in shorts, t-shirts, jeans and here these other people showed up wearing dresses and nice clothes. 

Then there was a commotion that I couldn't see because there was some sort of wall behind all the tables and chairs and it covered the entire half of the room that of course I was sitting in front of.  I didn't recognize the music because a cousin had composed it but there was Dad talking and the comotion behind the wall and so I was doing like all the other guests... I started looking around to figure out what the disturbance was. 

The music all of a sudden changed to a recognizable song and low and behold here come Randy and Vicki appearing from behind the wall to the wedding march song.  I immediately stood up and started crying. .  The entire audience were all shocked and crying or cheering!  So my uncle Randy had pulled it off.  For the prior 2 years every time I asked, "when are you going to set a date," I got the whole run around.  Now it was here and it was a huge surprise to everyone.  As it turns out that 5 minutes before the surprise happened my dad was brought in on the surprise and that's when he was told to go up and stall so he did the magic tricks. Whew... I was happy he hadn't gone bonkers. 

The touching part to me of the entire situation was revealed during a speech my dad made after the ceremony.  It turns out that Randy was supposed to be the little boy in the picture who is the ring bearer but he thought he was having to marry the little girl in the picture so he panicked and everyone stripped off his suit and put it on his older brother, my Uncle Butch is now the little boy ring bearer in my dad's own wedding to my mother in 1954 and here it was that my dad now was the ring bearer for Randy's wedding.

So now here it is, today is Randy's surprise party and boy is he going to be surprised.

Donna