BIG Suprise!

For over a month, I have been planning a "surprise" for my family down in the Beaumont area. Well, yesterday was D-Day!

I set out on my little drive from Dallas to SE Texas around 11:30 AM. For those that have never had the pleasure, it's about a 4.5 hour drive. There are two ways to go: I-45, or Highway 69. I like to take the East Texas route, so I drive down to Jacksonville, then come south on 69.

My goal? To surprise my aunt and cousin! As most of you know, my aunt had a stroke (numerous, actually) in March. It was a blow to our family, and it also caused me to re-schedule my visit.

Now my aunt is like a 2nd mom to me. We're very close. She's my late father's sister, and I love spending time with her (and eating her incredible food!). Whenever I call, she'll always ask, "When are you coming down?"

The plan was simple: Drive into town, show up at Lori's work, surprise her, then go to my aunt's house and do the same.

Well, plans don't always work out as "planned."

First, I enlisted the help of Chandra. She met Lori and Stacey (above, along with my aunt) a few years ago. She sent an email to Lori last week saying she would be down in Beaumont on business and wanted to see if they could meet up on Tuesday. Lori responded that she would be out in the afternoon, but to call her on the cell.

Sure enough, we started calling around 4:30. Nothing. It went straight to voicemail. We then (We're doing this with 2 phones so I can hear) call Lori's house. Nothing. Voicemail. I then think, "Maybe she's at her new house with the contractor." So I go out to the new place... yep... Nothing. Nobody is there.

I then call Lori and leave a message, "Hey... Chandra needs your help finding the airport. Can you call her?" (Believe me... the airport is VERY easy to find).

Well, I gave up with that surprise and decided to focus on my aunt. I gave her a call and she answered. "What are you doing?" I asked, and she said just sitting in the cool air. I told her I was on my way home from work and was thinking about her. Of course, she immediately asked, "When are you coming down?" I told her in the Fall and she said, "Ok... I guess I thought you were coming around the 4th."

Then I told her I was going to Galveston and she asked if I would make it their way. (My heart was breaking because I could hear how much she wanted to see her only nephew). Well, at this point I was on her street and was bursting with excitement! I pulled into the driveway, hopped out of the truck, and headed to the door.

When I walked in, she and I were still talking. My uncle Jerry was in the kitchen and he stopped and had that "deer in the headlights" look. I immediately shushed him and kept talking with her as I headed to the living room.

As soon as I walked in (her back was to me), my cousins Julie and Christie looked up and then had the same shocked look on their faces! I then stood right in front of her and she looked up... pause... pause... and then "click." It registered. "REGAN????" (She was still talking to me on the phone!)

The next thing was the room erupted and I hugged my aunt and everyone else in the room. My cousin Julie, who I haven't seen in 10 years, said she wished she had a video camera! It was priceless...

Then my phone rang. It was Lori. "Hey Bro... wait... I thought I was calling Chandra!" Then after a minute she said how much she missed me and wished she could get her "Bro hug." I said, "Hey... I have someone who wants to say something to you." I then handed the phone to her mom...

Now this literally took about 2 minutes for it to register... finally, I heard this, "Oh my gosh! I'm SOOO confused! He's there???"

Yes, I'm here. And I'm having the time of my life surprising my family... but more importantly, spending time with them! I leave tomorrow, so I'm soaking it all up!