Party Like It's 1947

I left Jaysa and Mike's on Feb 28th. The next day, March 1, was Raymond and Jessie's 63rd wedding anniversary. While waiting between flights at Chicago and Dallas airports, I made many back and forth calls to their next door neighbors and special friends -- Pete and Peggy -- and conspired with them to surprise Raymond and Jessie with a dinner at the lake. I know The Dead Fish Grille probably doesn't sound appetizing, but it has good food, is really fun, and has a beautiful view of Lake Belton.

In order to pull off the surprise, Bill had to lie to his mother and hurt her feelings by telling her he had to work late on their anniversary and wouldn't be able to take them to dinner until 2 or 3 days later. Her eyelashes started batting real fast (a dead give away that she's upset) but she said she understood.

Bill and I went out to The Dead Fish Grille early and set up the table. Raymond and Jessie's other next door neighbor and good friend, Donna, arrived next. Soon Raymond and Jessie arrived with Pete and Peggy, who had lured them out to the lake by telling them they were taking them to dinner.

It took Jessie a while to recognize her son and I and Donna. In fact, when she saw Bill she thought he must be having a "work meeting" dinner with co-workers since he had lied about having to work late. Once Raymond and Jessie caught on that we were all there to celebrate their anniversary with them, we all had a good laugh about how many lies their son had to tell before we could pull off this surprise for them.

When I picked out the balloons at the Party Store, the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" balloon wouldn't leave me alone. It seemed to have a mind of it's own, determined to be "picked" as I was trying to find anniversary-themed balloons. When I looked up at it, I realized their adopted brother Michael (who had died about 6 years before) was sending me a message. See, "Be Happy!" was Michael's favorite saying and there was nothing Michael liked better than surprising people. And right there in the store, while I was on my knees getting anniversary balloons, the "Don't Worry, Be Happy" balloon started playing the music and singing the reggae song without anyone touching the balloon.

So, you know I had to buy that balloon even though it wasn't really in line with the anniversary theme. We gave it the center of attention between the balloons and in the middle of the table. Donna got a kick out of me complaining about how I had to listen to that song over and over on the drive home from the Party Store and then out to the Lake. Every time the car would turn, sway or hit a pothole, the balloon music would go off. Then she made the mistake of offering to drive the balloons home for Jessie and guess what she had to listen to ALL THE WAY home?

Little did we realize that day that we had so much turmoil ahead of us. I planned to post about the party that night, but life happened. So, altho I'm so late, I did want to share with you how much fun it can be to surprise people when they least expect it.

If you're wondering "why the Hawaiian leis?" Let me tell you it's one of the few things I could find in the bride and groom theme. Jessie's said "Bride" and Raymond's said "Groom". I think they were meant for bachelor parties, but oh well, they worked!

May we all have many more opportunities to party like it's 1947 ...and may these two newlyweds stay young together forever.