mission: accomplished

operation surprise was a success!

for those of you unfamiliar with operation surprise, here is the story:

my sister-in-law and i conspired to surprise my brother, pjo, this weekend by having me fly out to vermont for a very special occasion. he has just recorded a cd of his own piano compositions and is performing a coffeehouse/cd-release party at his church this weekend. it was something for which i knew i had to be here.

as the time drew closer, i became more and more nervous that i – or someone else – would spill the beans. my mom almost did, but covered well enough. when i asked him tonight if he even noticed her comment, he said he had absolutely no idea. whew. even i had a hard time, whether it was in emails or on the phone, keeping my trap shut. but we pulled it off without a hitch! again, whew.

the coffeehouse is tomorrow night, and i can not wait to hear him play again.

i overheard my sister-in-law and my nephew (almost five years old) talking tonight, and it went a little something like this:

smo: do you know why aunt amo is here?
ieo: why?
smo: because she loves your daddy very much, and she was so happy that he has recorded this cd, she wanted to come and hear him play at the coffeehouse tomorrow night.
ieo: yes, because she is my daddy’s sister . . . and he is her brother! she’s a good sister.

that may be true, but i wouldn’t be here if he weren’t a good brother.