The Lead up to Pop's Surprise Birthday Party

 

A birthday cake that barely fit in the back of
my brother's car

Was Pop surprised? He says not really. He says there were clues. First, my Aunt Edith texted my mom a question about the party. 

You might be wondering, rightly so, why texting my mom would result in pop learning about his surprise 80th birthday party. It's because the two of them, ultra-annoyingly, share an Apple ID and therefore, if you text one of them, both my mom and dad get it. 

(This is not relevant to the birthday party but let me make it known that also, if one of them texts you back, the text may or may not look like it comes from the person who actually texted it. 

So you get a text "from your dad" about vintage elbow length gloves or going out to the cute breakfast place for a chocolate croissant with Ruth and Phyllis and oh by the way, Marge from the library just had a hysterectomy.

Anyway, eventually you realize the name on the top of the text is the wrong parent but it's a rough minute.)

After the unfortunate Edith text, Pop says he saw 4 cases of wine in the garage that mom had tried to conceal behind a pile of rubbermaid tubs. Hashtag dead giveaway.

Dad didn't let on that he suspected anything however. He just started casually asking lots of innocent but very strategic questions. It was like a game of battleship. He claims he never figured out Saturday afternoon was the big moment, however. He says he just knew there would be a party but he wasn't sure when. 

I am not convinced. It's highly likely Pop is just letting us believe we are as stealthy as we think we are. He has always been concerned about our self esteem.

But seriously:

• Tom and I and my brother and his family make a plan to visit my parents the Saturday after his birthday.
• Saturday mid-morning, mom dashes out in a lovely outfit muttering something about having to pick tomatoes urgently in the community garden.
• My brother announces he has to change his clothes but he takes the car and when he gets back he still has on the same clothes.
• Ella leaves and does not return.
• I decide we should go get smoothies at the cafe in the main building in the retirement community at exactly 1:00 pm, even though Mom hasn't gotten back yet from picking tomatoes, Ella is gone and at some point, Jack disappeared and no one seems at all concerned.
• No, we cannot walk in the side door of the main building that is closest to the cafe with the smoothies, we must go in the main entrance. 

He probably wrote in his journal all about our hilarious and totally bush-league skullduggery.