Our future daughter-in-law had been at Ft Lee to visit our son these past two weeks, enjoying time together when he had an off-post pass. The plan was for Doug and I to meet her for lunch when she returned to Florida so she could tell us all about the time in Virginia, share photos, etc.
We get a booth at Applebee’s restaurant and wait for Angel. She arrives and I start to wave her over ……..behind her is a man in uniform who looks remarkably like my son. I blink (because the day before I went through a painful junkie -like withdrawal of caffeine which caused my eyes to feel like swollen sunburned orbs…so of course I think something is wrong with me). It’s Tristan!
I get up and hug him, tears rolling down my face, and I am still just gobsmacked that these two pulled off such an incredible surprise. Other diners are looking at us with huge wide smiles at this unexpected reunion. At some point I know I released him and let his father get a hug too. All through lunch I kept looking at him as if he’d disappear. He looks great. Fantastic.
We didn’t get to see too much of him since they had very limited time before departing for Ft Lee again (a 12 hour drive) but we did manage a dinner Sunday evening. Grilled Mahi Mahi with salad, Tuscan stew, sweet and creamer potatoes with an Albarino wine.
We all had a blast catching up, the guys had a fun watching videos on their phones, Angel and I could catch up and the dogs ran themselves tired until they collapsed. Great Sunday evening……. Tristan had brought his Dad a cool Harley t-shirt from the shop near Ft Lee; the old pinup style complete with faded chevrons on the sleeves and babe in skimpy uniform straddling a bike.
He wanted to see and do so much ...but time was very short. Next time I am hoping for a big family reunion and lots of food and drink! He did receive good news while he was home - found out he ought to report to Ft Benning for Airborne training this week.
Good surprise though…..well done.
Yay!!!! Sounds like a great weekend :o)
ReplyDeleteMrs L
What a wonderful surprise indeed! So glad you got to catch up for awhile. :-)
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful for you guys Tina! I almost wanted to cry reading it, lol!
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great surprise!
ReplyDeleteI could not think of a better surprise...yay! He does look fabulous...everybody does- big smiles will do that ;)
ReplyDeleteThis was awesome! I can imagine your excitement and surprise, Surprises don't get much better than this-
ReplyDeleteI am smiling, smiling and smiling some more for you.
Beautiful.
Velva
Thanks all! I haven't been able to visit much recently because of a few things but I appreciate your nice comments :-) If we are lucky he'll be close by soon...driving distance. Even if it's only for a short time frame.
ReplyDeleteCheers all!
what beautiful photos, so full of happy times.... so glad for you and Doug and proud of Tristen... funny, after a while, I feel like I know ya'll...
ReplyDeleteAww I'm SO happy! That must have been the best surprise ever.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete