Day 1 (April 20, 2017): The Big Event

April 22, 2017

A party planner, I am not. Grand ideas? Those come to me much easier. But between the 'grand idea' of a combination surprise party and surprise trip and the reality of making the party happen, I underestimated what would be involved. Earlier this winter, I asked our friend, Malcolm Bradley, if he would be willing to arrange the social room in his new apartment building for Pam's 50th surprise party. He readily said yes, bless his heart. I'm not sure, however, he realized how much I would come to lean on his help -- and that of our close friends, Mel and Juliet Whalen -- on the actual party day.

The invitations went out. The food was ordered. A dozen invitees agreed to perform as part of a coffee-house segment. At 3pm, a few of us gathered to set up the room and get things ready. There are many stories that could be told about the lead-up to April 20th, some of which would remind you of a Monty Python sketch, but I will leave those out.

Pam's mom arrived on Easter Sunday, but since she normally visits for Easter, that didn't raise Pam's suspicions. However, when Pam arrived home from school, her brothers truly did surprise her by their presence! Both of them flew in from Ontario just for the event: Ken from Ottawa, and Greg from Kitchener.

Just before 6pm, I made it home and announced we were all "going out for dinner." Pam reluctantly agreed to a blindfold under the pretense of me wanting to enhance the surprise of which restaurant we were going to. By 6:15, we were at Malcolm's apartment building, took the elevator to the roof-top, and 44 of her family and friends did the ole' "surprise" shout!

The pictures tell the rest of the tale. Being surrounded by so many people from her church, music and school communities made her day. And the coffeehouse performances were all so varied, ranging from the classical strains of Villa-Lobos, to Van Morrison's 'Brown-Eyed Girl' (originally recorded back in 1967, a few weeks before Pam was born), to 'Hungarian Dance' as a piano duet with a comical twist.

We left at 9pm, with many helpful hands staying behind to clean up. On the way home, I informed Pam we had to "leave for the airport within 45 minutes". Now, as cruel as that may sound, she had been forewarned to pack a suitcase and be ready to leave for "an unknown destination" at any time. However, she had no idea whether it was by plane, train or automobile, and she wasn't expecting to leave tonight. So 'twas a mad scramble to get out the door.

We arrived at the Air Canada check-in counter just after 10pm for a total déjà-vu moment: it was 10 years ago almost to the very minute that we arrived at that counter and the agent asked, "Where to this evening?" When I responded, "London", Pam exclaimed, "London?!" and the agent looked at me as if I was kidnapping her. Well tonight when I told the agent "Two to London," Pam just shook her head and said nothing.

The flight ended up being delayed by 75 minutes, leaving at 1am. Which will have major ramifications on day two of this blog...