About a year ago, the idea popped up to go visit my mom for her 69th birthday. It was short notice and for many reasons I wasn't able to make it work. But the idea stayed in my head and I decided to make it happen for her 70th birthday! For a while I stored the idea in the back of my head. But with about 6 months to go, I enlisted all my sisters to see if we can make it a little family reunion and all surprise our mom the weekend of her 70th birthday.
Daphne booked a flight from Houston to Frankfurt. Sandra ended up finding a flight from SLC to Duesseldorf and I booked a flight from Houston to Duesseldorf. Our layover was in Atlanta and Sandra and I had coordinated to take the same flight to Duesseldorf, while we would say good-bye to Daphne who was flying to Frankfurt and then meet us at the train station in Duesseldorf. Lots of moving parts. Daphne only had a 50 minute layover and in my mind leading up to the trip I thought, how cool would it be for her to miss the flight to Frankfurt and then just get rebooked on our flight to Duesseldorf. Sounds pretty simple, right?
Well, we left Houston 45 minutes late and then it took us a while to taxi from the runway to the gate. By the time we arrived at the gate her flight had left the gate and she officially missed her flight. Delta's computer automatically put her on a flight the next day. That wasn't going to work, so we had to go to a counter. While we were on our way to the counter, she was re-routed through London to Frankfurt. That wasn't really going to work either and as we got to the Delta counter the lady there was kind enough to book her on Sandra's and my flight to Duesseldorf. Everything was falling into place and we were all very excited.
After that everything went off without a hitch. Not only were we all on the same flight but there were 3 seats right by each other and since the flight wasn't full we were able to play musical chairs and sit by each other. Someone surely had a hand in all this happening. What are the odds of Daphne missing her flight and then getting on our flight and for all of us to sit together? And top it off, we arrived in Duesseldorf almost 90 minutes earlier than planned.
We hopped off the plane, went through customs and passport control and just had to take bus line 721 from the airport to our front door. The bus stop is literally only a 2 minute walk away from my parents' house. We were tired but then adrenaline set in as we arrived at the bus stop and I couldn't walk fast enough to the house.
Pamela and Belana had gotten to the house a day earlier to get everything ready for the visitors my mom knew about (Fingerle's and Martes' were planning on coming Friday evening). We kept them up to date on a group chat on where we were and the made sure they were in the kitchen, where they could see us walk up to the house. While we were walking up to the house they were also facetiming with Naomi. That way everyone was present during the surprise.
Our dad was on the second floor peaking out the window to see where we were and had a big grin on his face. I am still in shock he was able to keep it quiet. For 6 months we had all known that we would try to surprise her but we were all able to keep a lid on it.
Mom finally saw us and judging from her reaction, she really had no idea. It was so fun to see her so surprised and her laugh was so real and so happy it made for a great morning. The stress of traveling, coordinating and praying that Daphne would miss her flight was absolutely worth it. It was such a fun reunion that I wish we could go back in time and do it all over again. We even have a video of the moment we arrived. You'll just have to ask me for that.
Once the excitement died down a little bit we had plenty of things to do. Of course we went to Aldi .... twice that day to buy groceries and drinks for everyone and just enjoyed being with each other. It was just so relaxing and fun.
Even though this was a trip to surprise my mom I had to do something I hadn't done in 20+ years. It so happens, the day we arrived 1.FC Koeln had a home game and I hadn't been to the Muengersdorfer Stadion in a long time, so I was able to purchase a ticket through a friend and we went to the game. The game ended on a terrible officiating incident but it was so fun to be there and I wish I could bring the boys to a game there. Maybe one day we can make that happen.
The next day we went running around the Unterbacher See since we hadn't done that in a long time either. It was chilly and dark but very refreshing. I sure didn't miss the Houston heat.
The rest of Saturday was spent taking family pictures and going to lunch with everyone that was able to be in attendance. In the evening I was able to spend some time with my childhood friend Kris Heipke who I hadn't seen since the last time we were in Germany. It was great hanging out with him and chatting.
Sunday was a regional conference for our church which was exciting because I was able to see so many people I hadn't seen in many many years. Perfect timing and even though I was only able to talk to people for a short time it was great to catch up with them. Sunday afternoon we had people over for cake to celebrate mom's actual birthday. Many people came and celebrated her and celebrated with her. We are lucky to have so many friends that care for her and wanted to be there.
Monday was spent packing and buying some clothes and souvenirs for the kids. I wish they all could've been there. We had a great time walking the streets of oldtown Duesseldorf and walking down memory lane a little.
Tuesday morning came quickly and while it was sad to say good bye, it was such a great experience to surprise our mom. She is a gem and an angel. She never complains and always does what needs to be done while never forgetting someone else's needs. I am so lucky to have her as a mom and her example of Christ-like service will always be in my mind.
It took me a good 2 weeks to get over the jet-lag but it was absolutely worth it to surprise her. The whole trip exceeded my hopes and expectations and I was glad everyone was able to be there and be part of the surprise. I have amazing sisters and it was so fun to plan everything together and execute it the way we did.
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