Surprise!!

Even though the calendar claimed I was now 60 years old, I still had a hard time wrapping my head around that reality. The morning of my birthday began with the heavy and instantly recognizable scent of my childhood. Frangipani...Plumeria. 

I remember my Nana Olsson had a carport on one side of her house in Strathfield, just outside of Sydney. That entire carport, both sides and the roof, was completely covered with Frangipani. 

After living in our Lindon house with 44 trees on our acre of land, I am overwhelmed with the fall leaves those 44 trees drop every year. So I can now appreciate the prolific flowering Frangipani may be considered a messy contribution to any yard in Australia. 

However as a child, often in dire need of solace, comfort, and to somehow be reminded that there was still beauty-in my often horrific young life- to me those pristine, picture-perfect flowers, and their unmatched fragrance seemed to represent my Heavenly Father’s gift to me. At the time I never saw the mess they made as they fell to the ground, having given their all. All I knew was that they were beautiful, and to this day I never tire of seeing, or smelling them. 

I also know now that smell is one of the strongest memory senses, and those sweet Frangipani still have the power to transport me home to Australia. 

So part of my heart immediately considered my birthday perfect-as I awoke to Frangipani blooms at my bedside. 

Little did I know....

Later that day we went to the Waikiki Hyatt for my birthday dinner. As I stood on the open balcony overlooking the famous beach, my mind drifted back to the week previous when we had Skyped with Trevor. He said “Well your card should arrive this week, but your present won’t get there til next week.” I reminded him we’d be in Hawai’i by then but that Bryce could bring it inside. That kinda dashed my secret hope that they would somehow meet us in Hawai’i. I returned to the table and my phone began to ring....it was Trevor. He said, “So I shipped your package to the hotel, because I thought you guys were staying there. Apparently not. I’ve talked to the front desk and they told me you’ll have to pick it up by 6pm.” 

I looked at my watch it was 5:56!

So Lisa took me down to the front desk and there were several people in line ahead of us. Suddenly I heard kind of a loud cough behind me and I felt like the person was standing a bit too close to me with that cough...so I turned around to them....and screamed as my brain caught up with what my eyes were seeing...Trevor and Chris standing there grinning at me and my reaction! I grabbed Chris in a huge hug as my eyes filled with tears. 

I could hardly take it in!

Later little pieces of the puzzle would drop into place in my mind. And I realized Clark and Trevor had planned this whole thing months ago!! Planning ahead has been so out of Clark’s character for much of our marriage, so the magnitude of what they’d done still reduces me to tears! 

They all thoroughly enjoyed sharing their respective roles in this birthday surprise of all surprises! 

As I looked around the table at the smiling happy faces, and the sparkling eyes, of some of the people most dear to me in this life, I felt so blessed! 

Much later I found out Lisa actually caught most of my initial reaction on video...another surprise that apparently had some divine intervention!!

We all enjoyed several days together before Jones’s continued on to London via Boston. 

So this somewhat scary 60th birthday will forever stand as one of the most remarkable surprises of my life. I remember looking into Clark’s eyes that night, as my heartbeat returned to normal, and his joy and his love for me, took my breath away again! 

There’s no way to adequately express my heartfelt gratitude to Clark, Trevor, Chris, Greg, Lisa...and a few others who kept their secret, but I will love each of them and cherish the memories forever!