SURPRISE!

It's rare these days to generate a real, genuine surprise. With all the media outlets available to us and our crafty means of weasling information out of people, we are scarcely taken off guard by anything. But sometimes, God just works everything out in our favor, all the pieces fall into place, and you get rewarded by that flabbergasted look on your surprisee's face when he/she figures out they've been snowed big time.

I've had a pretty big surprise going for the last few weeks, but until yesterday, I had to hold off on talking about it here because my surprisee tends to visit my blog a lot. But now the story can be told...

On Friday, May 12 (which was yesterday), Anna Kate was scheduled to graduate from Clemson. Earlier on, I learned that my BCM group had planned their Beach Weekend (along with the rest of the Furman student body) for that same weekend. When I found this out, I told Anna. Without ever actually coming out and saying it, mind you, I gave her every indication that I had chosen to go with BCM to the beach. She was disappointed, but said she understood and was fine with it. We could always plan something for that Sunday when I got back to town.

NOW ... once I learned the date for Anna's graduation, I decided then and there that I was going. And then for some weird reason, a plan hatched itself in my head, and its contents spilled over into a complex and convoluted yolk (okay, bad metaphor) that grew into a brilliant scheme to surprise her at graduation. But how to pull it off?

Step 1 - Connections. Family and friends talk. They interact a lot. So the first thing I had to do was suck them into the web with a little misdirection. I told both my family and even my friends at Furman that I was still thinking hard about this, trying to figure out what to do (remember, I had already decided). But all the while, I dropped hints that I was leaning toward Beach Weekend (I think I even told my Mom once that I had definitely decided to go, but mostly because I felt pressured into a decision). I even made sure to state that I had my $60 payment set aside in my bank account. And I did (but it ended up being used for something else on the side). The logic is you have to make sure that no one in your personal network can give you away. No one. They may not do it on purpose, but you never know what can slip out in a casual conversation. "So what's David up to next weekend?"

Step 2 - Say Without Saying. As the date got closer, I continued the misdirection in online conversations with Anna Kate. Usually, I tried to avoid talking about Beach Weekend. But when she did bring it up, I would either change the subject ("Whoa, my bread's thawed out.") or give an indirect answer ("I have to get that payment in first.") The key here was to make her think I was going without actually saying so. I never wanted to lie outright. So I told the truth - but not the whole truth. Overall, I think I did pretty well. I remember only one time I nearly screwed up when I mentioned an interview planned for that Friday - the Friday that I was supposed to be gone.

Step 3 - Clue the Parents. Finally, it was the week before. And it was time to let Anna's parents in on my plan. This required strategic phone-calling. The only number I had was her Dad and step-Mom's at home. And I was afraid I'd accidently run afoul of Anna in trying to call them. Then what? "Oh, um, hi Anna! ... uhhh, can I please speak to your Dad for a few minutes?" "Um, okay, WHY?" Which would bring us back to the whole lying thing.

So, using some carefully guarded questions, I got Anna to tell me what time her step-Mom was available, as well as where she herself would be the night I planned to call. It took a big leap of faith to place that phone call - I still feared Anna would pick up. But that Tuesday evening, I hit paydirt. I told her step-Mom of my plan. She loved it and was totally willing to play along. After getting her cell number, she gave me a number for Anna's Mom, who I contacted the following day, Wednesday. And she was equally excited about the surprise.

By this time, both my parents and her parents knew about my plan. But with the graduation only two days away, I figured it was less likely to get ruined because they wouldn't have to keep the secret for too long. That's not an easy thing to do, because Anna's very observant and picks up on things. So I had to plan very carefully.

Step 4 - Disappear. The next step was the toughest of all - waiting.

I came home on Tuesday, and BCM had to leave for the beach on Wednesday afternoon. So I had to drop out of sight for the next 48 hours. That meant I couldn't be seen online either (no internet at the beach). I had to sign on with one of my old screen names to check mail and stuff. It was tough seeing Anna's SN and being unable to talk. I also couldn't do stuff like update this blog or my Facebook page. Couldn't take the chance that she'd see the update and get suspicious. Hey, call me paranoid if you want, but I'd say if you're going to do a surprise, you may as well do it right. No way was I going to let AIM, Blogger, or Facebook blow my cover.

The only problem was by this time, I hadn't talked with Anna since the weekend. Not in person, not online, not over the phone, not anywhere. I got worried that being out of contact for that long (since I wasn't supposed to leave until Wednesday) would really make her wonder. But a family visit to my grandparents in Whitmire solved that little problem. I left her a message in the car, saying I was, "on the road, and getting ready for a long drive." Made sure to have the radio on in the background for good effect. I couldn't resist adding that "I will definitely see you after graduation is over." My Mom, sister, and I nearly spun off the road laughing as soon as I hung up.

Step 5 - Payoff. Finally - the big day arrived - Graduation Day. I arrived at her Dad's house in Fountain Inn and piled in with him, her step-Mom, and her grandparents, who had also been privvy to the surprise. The plan was to drive to Clemson, and meet up with Anna's Mom, step-Dad, McEwen and Kristi inside Littlejohn, where we would sit together and then meet Anna at the end. Her odds of spotting us in a capacity crowd were virtually nil.

However, I decided to speed up the payoff. I waded through the lines of anxious graduates grouped by subject, until I found the Early Childhood group. And there, I spotted her.

I waved slightly. She looked up and saw me. At first, she was like "Oh, there's David." Then it hit her. David was at the beach, wasn't he? She did a double take. Her eyes went wide, and a big smile spread over her face. How I wished I had a camera at that precise moment! I'll never forget that look. It was just what I wanted, and more.

After the service was over, her folks and I spilled the whole plan. I couldn't believe we actually pulled it off. She said she never once suspected what was going on. Now the whole time, I was always prepared to drop pretense and tell her I was coming (if I couldn't reach her folks, if I bumped into her, etc.) But it all worked out perfectly. I even extended the surprise a little by hiding a graduation present in her Dad's car, along with a can of Silly String. I engineered a sneak attack on Anna before she could get in (thankfully, I didn't mess up her robe). Of course, I have to be extra cautious now, because she's already planning some surprise of her own to get even with me. :)

Anyway, that's my little surprise in a nutshell. A big nutshell. To all those I kept in the dark, I'm sorry a thousand times. It was all in good fun. I hope you'll forgive me, sweetheart :) Love you bunches! Congrats on graduating!