Surprise!

My little brother Barry timed his birth perfectly to fall in springtime, when people's hearts are cheerful and festive, and so when he was about to turn two years old (and my sister Jen was four and I was about to turn six), Jen and I decided that we would have a surprise party for Bar.

Thus, my little sister and I walked around the neighborhood to our friends' houses, getting everything planned. The party was to be Saturday at 3pm.

We invited all of my brother's friends, all of my sister's friends, and all of my friends. Our list had maybe twenty names of people who had said they would come.

We were excited for the big day -- it was the first time we had planned anything like this. We worked so hard to keep it a secret, and I'm pretty sure that Bar had no idea what we had planned.

Jen and I came up with a list of games to play, and we even had a plan in case it rained. We got all of our outside toys ready, and we got all of our inside toys ready.

We were doing the final cleanup of the kitchen and living room, and Mom walked in.

"Why, you're doing a great job cleaning!"

"Thanks Mom. Just getting ready for the party," said my sister.

"Party?" said Mom.

And at that moment, Jen and I looked at each other with a "I thought you told her" kind of a look.

"Uh, um, yes, we're having a surprise party for Barry."

Mom looked a little on edge. She asked, "What time is the party?"

"Three o'clock today."

"Fifteen minutes from now?"

"Oh," I said, looking at the clock. "Yeah, I guess so."

I have never seen an adult move that quickly in my life, except perhaps the time that a pan of oil caught fire on the stove and Dad raced to the bathroom to get a damp towel. But that's another story.

In the blink of an eye, Mom shoved a couple dollars into our fists and commanded, "Run to the store and get a carton of ice cream!"

She ran into the kitchen and threw together a batch of brownies.

Jen and I high-tailed it down the street, over a block, and down one more block to the store. Running into the store, the clerk said, "Whoa there. Your mom just called. She wants you to get some candles too."

Fortunately we had enough money.

We grabbed the ice cream and candles and ran back up the hills toward home.

By the time we got home, the first guests had already arrived and Mom was having to entertain them

She looked a little flustered, but only a little. Somewhere in the back of her mind I'm sure she was viewing this in a comical light. At least I hope so.

We ended up having a great party. I don't know if Bar enjoyed it, but my sister and I sure did.

And I've loved surprise parties ever since.