SURPRISE!

My niece, Mary, called last week to invite us to a surprise party for my half-sister, Joni. "This is Mom's 75^th birthday," said Mary, "and it's time to have a party in her honor. I want everyone to gather at the restaurant by 4:30, and I'll arrange for Mom to come in at 4:45. You all will be the surprise."

Joni's birthday was actually November 10. "Joni is really down," said my other sister, Harriet. "She thinks her children are basically ignoring her birthday. She told Pat [Joni's husband] that he's lucky he has a spring birthday." We've had several parties in Pat's honor. It was a little hard to watch Joni suffer. On the other hand, we had to chuckle knowing that such a nice surprise was waiting for her.

So, this afternoon Mike and I set out for Moscow to attend the surprise party. We stopped at Safeway to pick up the beautiful bouquet I had ordered for Joni on behalf of Harriet and myself. There are times when flowers are just the right touch. Moscow is only 30 miles from Lewiston and in recent years the road has been upgraded to four lanes much of the way. It was a pleasant trip on a beautiful but cold afternoon. We arrived early so that we could get groceries at Winco, which has the lowest prices around. We even had a few minutes to shop Michael's where we found cork board for the pantry walls. Moscow, being the home of the University of Idaho, does have some good shopping.

Speaking of the university, as we tried to approach the milk aisle in Winco, an employee was there with a wet mop. He looked like a janitor and I really didn't expect a moment of levity. "You can't come through this way," he told us – and then with a twinkle in his eye, he added, "but several highly-educated professorial types have tried." We all laughed.

As we pulled into the parking lot at the Best Western, we saw Joni and Pat entering the building. "What are they doing here?!" exclaimed Mike. "They aren't supposed to be here yet."

And it was true. Instead of party guests all gathered and waiting, Joni was surprised instead to see family she hadn't expected more or less converging on her from all directions in the lobby. We all entered the dining room together and took our seats. "I'm still being surprised," said Joni with tears in her eyes. "My cup runneth over."

"What did you think was going on?" I asked Joni. She said she expected to have dinner with Mary and her family, a birthday tradition. Pat had suggested they set off from home about 4:10 and that put them at the restaurant a little earlier than they were supposed to be there.

Joni's daughter, Monica, and her family were there from Seattle. They had made it over the pass. Here's a picture of Monica and her son, Keegan. The skirt she is wearing belonged to a great-great aunt, i.e. very old – heavy tucked satin made in New York City – probably around the turn of the century, as we used to say before we turned the page to another century. The skirt fit slender Monica perfectly.

Mike and Laurie came from the Boise area. Joni said she and Mike had a long phone conversation last night.

L.J. came with his folks, Harriet and Bill. Harriet said she had driven from Lewiston to Moscow. L.J. would drive them back.

Loris came, representing Nina's children, and her son, Micah put in an appearance. He works at a Moscow restaurant as a waiter, and since this was Dad's weekend at nearby Washington State University, he was anxious to get back to work, anticipating good business and good tips. "Enjoy your meal," he called to us as he left. Spoken like a true waiter.

Of course, Joni's daughter, Mary, our party organizer, lives in the area with her husband and two sons. And with them was her mother-in-law. So, there were 20 of us, and basically the same group will gather again at Joni's on Thanksgiving.