Surprises...

I love a GOOD surprise.  I love it when you can pull something off so great that the person getting surprised has NO idea but they love the out come.  Dave tried for years to do nice, sweet, surprises for me but somehow I always seemed to find out before he had a chance to pull it off.  I really don't try to find out, it just happened.  Honest, I'm not that nosy.  I would love to be on the receiving end of a good surprise but sadly, I think he's given up trying.  

A couple of days ago I helped Sarah pull off a great surprise which got me thinking about the one great, big surprise I was able to pull off.  To find out more about Sarah's surprise, you'll have to read about it on her blog at alohahendrickson.blogspot.com because it is her story, not mine.  She hasn't done it yet but she assures me she will.

While I was driving home from Las Vegas (that's were Sarah flew from) I had a lot of time to just think.  As I was picturing in my head what it must have been like for Chris to see her standing in front of him that morning, my mind went back...way back, to when I made a life altering decision to surprise Dave.  

Just about 22+ years ago I had plans!  I had gone through some self induced rough waters but had finally made the decision to "right the ship" and serve a mission.  I went through the process of getting my papers filled out, got my physical, saw the dentist for wisdom tooth extraction (luckily I found out that I don't even have wisdom teeth!), and waited for that big envelope to arrive in our mailbox.  Back then it was all snail mail and it seemed like it took forever. 

All four of my siblings had served mission so I was just following the path that they had laid out.  My sister served in New Zealand at the same time my brother served in England.  Then my other brothers served in Canada and Missouri.   I couldn't imagine where I was going to be sent but where ever it was, I would love it.  Well, that day came when my call arrived...drum roll please...I opened it up and it said I was to serve in the Indianapolis Indiana Mission!  O k a y?...I said I would love it, right?  So there it was.  In black and white.  Indianapolis!  I didn't know anything about that place but I was going to find out.  Now, this was before internet so I went to our trusty Encyclopedia Britannica Books to looked it up.   I just remember feeling a little sad that it wasn't someplace "cool" or exotic or somewhere I would learn a new language but that is where I would go and do the best I could.

A few weeks after getting my call, I had my farewell(s).  Yes, I had 2 farewells, not on the same day but 2, none the less.  One in my home ward and the other in our singles ward.  The very day I gave my singles ward talk, I went to Sunday School and sat in the front row with my mom at my side.  That day there was a teacher who I never seen before but he was kinda cute.  He reminded me of Tom Selleck, because he had this great mustache and was tall and athletic...what a hottie!   As I sat there (did I mention I was in the front row with mom?) during the lesson I had a voice as clear as day say, "You're going to marry that guy!"  I actually looked around to see who said that but everyone was quiet.  I told myself that I was hearing things but it happened again!  I did what any self respecting, future missionary would do.  I ignored it!!

That following weekend there was a tri-stake singles dance down in Santa Barbara so I went with a friend.  My thinking was this, "I don't have anything to loose, I'm leaving in a couple weeks, so what the heck."  I was having fun dancing around with anyone and every one.  It's amazing how much fun you can have when you know you're leaving soon.  No shyness, no pressure, just fun!  I remember it was pretty hot in the gym so I was heading outside for some air when "Mr Mustache" asked me to dance.  I said yes but that I'd like to get some air first so he followed me out.  


When we got out there I decided to play twenty questions with him without asking him if that was okay.  Like I said, no shyness here.  I started rattling off question after question like a rapid fire machine gun.  I noticed he was looking around, probably looking for an escape, when he spotted a hop scotch board painted in the sidewalk.  He then asked if I wanted to play so I said, sure... "if you can beat me, I'll dance with you".  Rude, I know.  Well, he beat me.  I was so amazed that with those BIG feet he managed to beat me that I had to make good on my promise to dance with him.  

Sorry this is such a LONG story.  You might want to stop reading or go get a snack!

For the next week, I thought about him a lot.  I tried not to because I was leaving but I just couldn't stop.  After the dance he said he would call me but it took him a few days.  I think he wasn't sure what to do with me any more than I knew what to do with him.  When he finally called, I was nice but didn't show too much interest.  I did invite him to my open house but he didn't show up.  I found out later it was because he was nervous because I was leaving and he didn't want to pursue me.  Silly boy!


After that he called and came over at all hours of the day and night.  He was working as a policeman at UCSB 90 miles from our home and he was working the swing shift so he would leave for work at around 1:00pm, work until 11:00pm, go home and sleep for a few hours and then drive in the opposite direction to see me for a few hours, then do it all over again.  Talk about crazy!!


In that week and half before I left, we talked about life, goals, jobs, school, everything but we kinda danced around the subject of US.  I kept telling him that I was going to go and serve my mission and he just kept saying, "I think you should and I'll be here when you get back."  Of course I didn't believe him.  Why would anyone do that?  Crazy!  He stayed at our house until early in the morning the night before we left, gave me a kiss and a hug and...I left.

Our family was having a reunion at my grandparents farm in Monroe, UT that weekend before I was to report to the MTC.  We drove across the desert from California which took about 12 hours.  I hadn't been set apart yet so the hug and kiss were "legal" and my mind was racing the whole drive to Utah.  We had been there a day or two when I got a call from him.  This was before cell phones so when he called, he called my grandparents house.  I didn't even remember giving him that number but I must have.  


I got on the phone and he said, "how do I get to Monroe?"  What??  He told me that he had flown to Vegas, rented a car and wanted to know how to reach the farm!!  This was my great surprise!!  I really couldn't believe it!  I think I was so stunned that I had to hand the phone over to someone else to give him directions.  My dad has 7 siblings who all have several kids so the house was FULL of family.  I couldn't figure out what he was doing, where he would stay, or what was next but for some reason, I was fairly calm.  

He showed up a few hours later while my entire family watched through the window to get a look at this stranger who had crashed the reunion.  Fortunately, I have a very nice family who welcomed him in and gave him a place to stay and food to eat.  I think he ended up sleeping in the floor but there wasn't a ton of sleep happening.  Lots of late nights, long conversations, and more questions.  

We went to Bryce Canyon, climbed the haystack and went for walks to the cemetery.  This is not a weird thing for our family because we love this little cemetery.  My uncles used to take us there and tell us ghost stories and scare us but we have a lot of good times in that cemetery.  In fact, Dave asked me to marry him on the dirt road in front of the Monroe Cemetery.    I told him yes, but that I was still going to serve my mission.  He, once again said he'd be there when I got home and once again, I didn't believe him.  Silly girl!

He left the next morning and I had a choice to make.  My Grandpa was a man of few words but I credit him for helping with my choice.  I was talking to my family about the situation while he was listening and then he said, "Sharie, do you know that you're suppose to marry him?"  I said "Yes".  Then he said "Well, then I don't know what the problem is."  The next morning, 3 hours from the time I was to report, I made the difficult call to the MTC telling them I wouldn't be coming.


Instead of driving north to Provo, I jumped into my sisters van with her family and drove to California.  My great surprise was just beginning!...

Dave had NO idea that I hadn't left for the MTC.  As far as he knew, he'd see me in 18 months.  When we finally got home we devised a plan to get him to the house.  My sister called and told him that I had given her something that she needed to give to him, and that she had to give it to him that night.  He was going to go play basketball with some buddy's and asked if he could get it the next day, but my sister said that I really wanted him to get it that night.  He said okay and drove the 30 miles to our home.  My sister invited him in and had him sit on the couch while she went to get it.  It's probably a good thing that he was sitting down because he was in for the shock of his life!  I was about to "call his bluff" and was crossing my fingers that he really wanted us to be together.  I've got photographic evidence of his shocked face.  We were married 3 months later.  It was so fun to surprise him and after 21+ years of marriage, it was totally worth it.  Some would say it was a big gamble but I think it was a giant leap of faith.  I knew we needed each other and thankfully, so did he.


My surprise story is over...you might need an Excedrin now.