By Trent Rosser
Well, I did it! I'm actually kinda proud of myself. I threw a surprise party for my wife's birthday. Granted, it was 6 days after her birthday, but that made it more of a surprise, kinda. Let's go back to how it started and I can explain everything. Well, almost everything.
It started back in July of last year. My wife and her 3 siblings decided to throw a surprise anniversary party for their parents. This cost a lot of money from everyone. We had to rent a party room at a fancy hotel, get a catering service, pay for decorating and get plenty of alcohol. The room itself was over $500. Then the hard part - getting everyone to keep quiet about it so they wouldn't find out. When the time came, one of the sisters picked them up and brought them to the hotel. I'm not sure what she told them, but they were surprised. There were relatives from all over that came to celebrate. Everyone had a good time and my wife's parents were not only surprised, but I think they were impressed that the kids pulled it off. It was a very memorable experience.
Now, fast forward to this past July, one year later. My wife and I are lying in bed talking and I mention her birthday coming up in August. Of course, me being a man and unable to take subtle hints, I asked what she wanted. To my surprise, she actually told me that it would be nice to have a party because she has never had one. Most men would say, "I will get started on it A.S.A.P." As you probably already know, I'm not like most men. Instead I said, "Are you kidding me? We don't have the money for that! Don't you remember how much it cost us for your parents party? How many people would you want there?" She said just a few people but I shut her down. It might have hurt her feelings a bit, but in my mind I had already started to plan on how I could possibly pull of a surprise party for her.
I had talked about La Fiesta Grande on 45th street a couple of times before. We try to go there at least once every 2 weeks. It is where we had our first date, and met quite possibly the best waiter in town. His name is Jose, but for some strange reason, we have always called him George. Once, just before we were married, we went and ate there. Of course George was out waiter. I carelessly forgot my wallet and had to run back home so I could pay for our food. While I was gone, George looked at my wife and jokingly said, "You know he ain't coming back...Just kidding!" So I figured that this would be the best place for a surprise party. So, as usual, we went there to eat and I could set something up. When we were done eating I told my wife that I needed to talk to George for a moment and please wait for the change. I talked to George and he got the manager to set up the party. As George, the manager named Angela, and myself were talking and getting it set up, my wife walks up behind me. Poor George didn't know it was going to be a surprise party so he says to my wife. "So your gonna have a party!" The look Angela gave George was priceless! He immediately recanted and covered it up and made it look like he was talking about something else. So, La Fiesta the following Saturday after her birthday. This could actually work. The price for the room? Just as long as everyone eats, and pays for their food, it would be taken care of! I might actually pull this off!
A few days later, I pull up her Facebook friends and send messages to them about the party. I also steal her phone while she was in the shower to get other phone numbers of her friends and family and send them texts to let them know the time and place for her surprise party. Then it happened, I let the cat out of the bag. We were talking and out of the blue she asked a question that rattled me. "If I did have a party, how would you get a hold of my parents," she asked. Without using that filter between the brain and my mouth, I replied, "Easy, I would send a message through Facebook, but I have already texted them." DANG IT! Now she knows, but she was being a good sport and not giving in.
Her birthday comes and she gets a small present from me and we go about our day. The following Saturday, I told her that our neighbors and best friends were going to take her to get her nails done and then we would all meet at La Fiesta for supper, just the 4 of us. I found out later, that as they were getting ready my wife said something to them about having to hurry to make it to her party in time! Yes, she was expecting a couple of people, but not as many people that showed up! So, yes, she was surprised...to a point. The staff at La Fiesta did an excellent job of making sure that everything went smoothly. I even brought a cake before everyone showed up and they kept it in the back in a cooler. When the time was right, the entire staff brought out the cake with candles on it singing "Happy Birthday". I was so worried about how much it was going to cost me since I was buying everyone's food. It was very inexpensive and George himself earned a good tip!
The surprise party had me worn out just by planning it. I was so worried that it would go horribly wrong, but everyone had a great time, especially my wife. When we came home, I told her that it was stressful planning all of that. She smiled and said, "Your big day is just around the corner. What do you want?" I slyly replied, "I want you to be happy!" But my mind was saying, "Please, for the love of God….NO PARTIES!" I'm sure that if there was going to be a party planned, George at La Fiesta would "accidentally" let me know!
Rosser/Provided