Surprise, Surprise

I am a terrible human being. Well, I'm a terrible blogger anyway. I had no idea it had been nearly THREE months since I last blogged. They will have to take away my keyboard.

It's a funny thing. You head into the Christmas holidays and stop writing because of the time factor. But I have no such excuse anymore. I guess the biggest problem is that I got out of the habit and then was just busy, busy, busy.

One cool thing that happened in the last three months was turning 42. Yup, I am definitely fortysomething now. I will try not to freak out.

So here's the scoop on my birthday: I’m not often surprised.

My best friend hates going to movies with me because I generally figure things out long before the people on the big screen. I don’t think this is a testament to any genius on my part, merely to the often evident lack of creativity on the part of the Hollywood establishment that generates most of the films we see.

And I’ve never had a surprise party. Well, people have tried, but I realize what’s going on long before the party and have to present a fake “surprised” look so that I don’t disappoint the party organizers.

No longer. This year, I was well and truly surprised on my birthday.

I was expecting a pretty low-key day, since my birthday fell on a Sunday. I had phone calls from a couple of my siblings. My best friend stopped by and dropped off a great gift. But the evening was dedicated to our church’s annual Lessons & Carols Christmas service – so no big dinner celebration. Our choir practices for this service for several months and the music is exquisite. I thought this was a nice way to celebrate my day. The whole birthday bash thing ceases to be a big deal when you turn 21 – unless you’re a movie star.

As I arrived for our pre-concert warm-up, a few people in our choir muttered, “Happy Birthday.” One of my friends, Linda, gave me a birthday gift of a pretty pair of Christmas earrings, which was lovely.

The Christmas service was fantastic and everyone was pleased as we took off our choir robes and gathered our stuff to head to the post-concert reception. I walked into the fellowship hall and was immediately accosted by half a dozen people wanting to say hello. I started to extricate myself and head to the food table for a drink when one of my former choir students stopped me to give me a hug. I whispered, “Wish me a happy birthday!” and a look of excitement flashed across her face. I said, “Don’t tell anyone; it’s a secret!” But she started to run off to tell several of the other kids present. Before she’d run three steps, our choir director, Rusty, and my friend Linda, flanked me on either side as Rusty called out to the crowd: “We have something special we’re celebrating tonight.... it’s also Laura’s birthday.”

Linda pulled out a birthday cake with candles, handed me a card and about 200 people sang “Happy Birthday” in four-part harmony. It was pretty incredible. I couldn't possibly ask for a better birthday gift or a better surprise.