Kath loves birthdays and bowling, so why not combine the two? We had been bowling for Kath’s birthday 5 years before, and it was so much fun the last time that I tried to duplicate the success. Previously, I had thrown her a surprise party, with a good bit of help from our friends. This time, my goal was to throw a reverse surprise party.
What is a “reverse surprise party?” Well, you wouldn’t be the first to ask that question. A reverse surprise party is where, rather than structuring it so that the person being surprised arrives to find their guests already at the location of the festivities, they arrive first and do not expect any guests. The surprise is that the guests actually do arrive, preferably all at once, as a big surprise.
Well, Kath’s party didn’t really live up to what I was hoping. I just found out that the surprise is all in the arrival, and the more grand the arrival, the better the surprise. Because I didn’t give them better directions, Kath’s guests arrived gradually, and the only surprise was wondering who was going to be the next to show up.
Oh, well.
At least the bowling was fun. A good crowd showed up that Sunday afternoon, cake and ice cream was enjoyed by all, and bowling names were picked with earnestness.
And, I’ve got five more years to figure out how to throw a better surprise birthday party.