Surprise!

Everyone has either been the surpriser or surprisee in a surprise party. In July 2007, Terri and I were surprised by my daughter Lyndy for our 25th wedding anniversary. In addition to flawless planning and execution, she was also able to entice me to cater my own surprise party. Here is how it happened.

A couple weeks before the party, she asked if I would mind smoking a brisket for her in-laws family reunion. I never turn down an offer to barbecue, so I agreed. The reunion date was set for a Saturday evening about 2 weeks out. Lyndy paid for a brisket and I smoked it for several hours in my smoker. The brisket was then wrapped in foil and frozen.

The Friday before the reunion, I pulled the brisket out of the freezer and slowly cooked it overnight. By Saturday afternoon it was tender and ready to serve. Lyndy asked if I could deliver it to the reunion held at her and Dan's church. We agreed. Our brother and sister from Memphis was in town that weekend, and without our knowledge were completely in the know on what was going down.

We loaded up and made the 25 minute drive to the church. Upon arrival, several of my daughter's in-laws, the Farrs, were on the church property riding dirt bikes and 4-wheelers. Nothing seemed strange with that since it was the Farr reunion. We handed off the brisket and chatted with a few of the Farr family. As we prepared to leave, Lyndy asked if we would like a tour of the church. It was a brand new building, so again, nothing seemed strange.

I typically do not spend my Saturday afternoons touring churches, but the Wilson's seemed interested so Terri and I agreed. We toured the sanctuary, a few Sunday School rooms, and then Lyndy lead us to a closed door room. She said we would be especially interested in this room. By then I was extremely bored and just following along. Lyndy opened the door. My first thought was why did all of our friends gathered in a strange church? I can be fairly dense at time, but after a few seconds I deduced that we were the victims of a flawlessly executed surprise party.

Not only was the trap sprung well, I had brought the meat dish for the party. Nice touch, Lyndy. We had a good time celebrating with family and friends. I take from that day 2 unchangeable facts:

1. There is no need for any more family surprise parties as they will all pale when compared to Lyndy's feat.
2. The brisket was exceptional.