A Surprise
How do you feel about getting a surprise? I suppose that a really nice surprise is a fine thing and in many instances, it's fun to be surprised. Often it's very difficult to keep a secret and keep something a surprise. And often, the surprise is not a good surprise.
I'm thinking about gifts. Once early in our marriage, my husband was giving me a gift that he was very excited about. He wanted to tantalize me, which is the purpose of a surprise. He gave me clues about my gift. It had a slanting top, I could store things in it, I would use it every day, --and perhaps many more clues. I was so sure it was a drawing table and I could hardly wait.
He wasn't home the day that it was delivered. It wasn't a drawing table. It was a dishwasher!! I was so sure it was the wrong thing. I kept telling the men who brought it that it couldn't be a dishwasher and they kept telling me that was the order they received and this was the place. I had to accept the fact that it wasn't my artist's drawing table and wondered why he had led me to believe that's what it was. The top only slanted when you lifted the lid to put dishes in or out. I don't know if I was able to keep him from kowing how disappointed I was. I see now that it was really a double surprise. I was surprised that it wasn't a drawing table and if he realized how I felt, which I tried not to tell him, he was surprised that I didn't want a dishwasher.
I remember the surprise party the people at Warrendale gave us before we moved from there. We were doing serious packing to be ready to load the truck. One family asked us to come to dinner. We thought we really just needed to get the work done, but they said that we'd need to eat, so just come. Don't clean up, they had said, just take a little time and come have the meal.
And then I got the phone call from a very dear friend. "I'm so sorry," she said, "but I can't come to your party." My mind raced. Party? What party? And then I understood, it wasn't just a meal for us, it was a going away party. My mind processed this while she kept telling me her reason for not coming. I don't remember what that was, just that we were going to a party instead of a meal.
I didn't tell the others in the family that it was a party, but I made sure that all of us got cleaned up and looked presentable. I let them be surprised, and I was very glad that I knew the surprise ahead of time.
I'm remembering when our friend Helen was honored with a special award in a big meeting. We were all sworn to secrecy, "Don't tell Helen that this is happening." No one told. When Helen's name was called out to go to the platform in the front, she was startled and frightened. She thought she would fall going up the steps to the platform. She thought she wasn't dressed in her best. She didn't enjoy the honor because it was all in all a frightening experience. She would have loved it if she'd been prepared and anticipating it. A surprise can be brutal!
What might be a nice surprise for me is that if I have to leave home before I get the dishes done, to come home and find that the dishes are done for me. I know, I know! I should have valued the dish washer more than I did!
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