I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: A slice a day for all of March.  You should do it too!  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Readers, check out their site, and start slicing!

I’m also Celebrating today with Ruth Ayres!

A month or so ago, we started planning: My sister, Alex would drive in from the midwest to surprise our parents. This was a hard secret to keep! On Facebook I kept almost writing things like “Bring that when you come to PA!” When my mom said she was going to send Alex a cookie care package, I bit my tongue to stop from saying, “Just give her the cookies when she gets here!”

Last night, a few hours before Alex arrived, I texted my folks. “I have something to show you, can you come over after the kids go to bed around 9?” This was a very suspicious and odd text to send, and I hoped that they wouldn’t call me back because I didn’t know what else I would say. Somehow it worked – they were curious but agreeable.

At 7:30, I told the kids. This should have been videotaped. There aren’t words to describe how much my children love their Aunt Alex. There was screaming, jumping, and even motivation to get all ready for bed quickly.

At 8:30, Alex arrived. Of course the kids weren’t actually in bed, so after they all talked at once and jumped on her,  they hid in the basement with their Aunt waiting for my parents to get here.

At 9:00 on the dot, my always-on-time parents came to the door.

“This gets curiouser and curiouser,” My mom said.

We offered decaf, and then Mr. Thought said the code sentence. While my mom looked at him trying to understand what he was saying, my sister walked out the basement door. This we have on video: Both parents with their mouths open in shock. There were tears of joy, hugs and exclamations, and in the background of the video you just see me, holding the dog back, my mouth stuck open in a huge goofy smile.