Life is full of surprises, but
the biggest one of all
is learning what it takes
to handle them…
~Deborah Wiles
Well, we did it. We reeeeaaally did it. We managed to SURPRISE my husband with a retirement celebration. When I say ‘we’, I mean the financial institution where he works led the charge and I—well, let me tell you—what I did…
First, I need to tell you a little bit about my husband, Dwight. Dwight likes to be the man-behind-the-scenes. He’s always been a high producer, a high achiever, but he’s fine with getting a tremendous amount of work done, staying behind the scenes. In addition to not wanting to be in the spotlight, he doesn’t like surprises. Not only does he not like them, typically he doesn’t handle them well. Not that he becomes angry or anything—he just does his best to get out of “surprising” situations. J
So, a couple of weeks ago when one of his employees called me and told me that they were doing a surprise party for him, the first words out of my mouth were, “You know that Dwight doesn’t like surprises, right?” He said, “Yeah, but we love Dwight and we want him to know how much we value him and how much he is going to be missed.” I thought about that for a second and realized that not only was Dwight going through transition, but a bunch of other people are too. Dwight has worked with some of these people for 20 years. They are like family and they truly care for Dwight and wish him all the best. It’s really very simple…they need closure. They wanted him to know that, although they would prefer that he remain with them, they wanted to give him something…to do something for him that said how much they support him and wish him all the best. After a few seconds, I said, “What can I do to help you”?
And so the planning began…
It was my job to get pictures together and send to them on-line. That was easy and done. It was also my job to invite people who were more associated with him outside work (family, fraternity brothers, etc.). That was also easy and done.
It was also my job to do the shopping for his “major” gifts. Tough job, right? This was my favorite part of “my job”. They told me how much was collected and that became my budget.
I purchased new cowboy hats, work/barn boots and a cool shirt. I had to hide everything and wait for the big day.
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| Two Tony Lama hats (bucket top and straight top), work boots and shirt. |
I have to admit, I was nervous about the “surprise”. I just didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable. But, I kept pushing forward. I knew that Dwight would see and feel everyone’s love for him and it would be alright.
The party was yesterday (Wednesday the 11th at 2:00). My mother and daddy went with me and we got there around 1:30 to make sure we got into the room to help set up the gifts. They did such a beautiful job. It was a western theme, “Happy Trails, Dwight”, and there were cowboy hats, western boot confetti, streamers, etc. in the room. Additionally, everyone had been told that if they owned a cowboy/cowgirl hat to wear it. So, lots of folks came in their hats.
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| His retirement cake – “Happy Trails, Dwight” |
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| Boot with cards, best wishes and spurs. |
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| Wearing their hats…waiting for Dwight |
We knew his boss was going to bring him down for a meeting at about 2:05 and at 2:00, a lot of us were lined up waiting for him to show. And the minutes ticked by and about 2:06, the door opened and in he came.
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| Surprise! |
He was shocked. And at first I thought, “oh, no”. But it was like gratitude and kindness visibly washed down over him and he walked around the room and hugged me and said, “I knew when the 2nd floor of the building (the floor he works on) cleared out, something was going on”. Everybody clapped and cheered for him. And he was smiling big time.
He was so gracious and so visibly moved by everyone’s thoughtfulness that it didn’t matter that he was surprised. It was so clear that everyone cares for him and that overrode his feeling of surprise. And me? I was so, so moved by the numbers of people who were visibly moved by his leaving. Over and over again, I heard, “I really don’t know what we’ll do without you”. And I was just dang proud. Proud of how he handled everything and proud that he is my husband.
There were easily 100 people there and all thought the world of Dwight. We were delighted to see one of his fraternity brothers and his wife who made a 4-hour trip to be there. And he made his rounds to everyone. Thanking everyone and just being the gracious man he is. We shared food together and people told stories about him. And it was wonderful. He later gave a short speech and thanked everyone, not just for the celebration, but for their contributions to him as a person and as a professional.
The whole experience of the celebration just drives home the fact that Life is always, always going to surprise us. That’s just life. Nobody gets through life without surprises. But it’s how you handle the surprises that matters.
Blessings to You!
Charity & The Horse Mafia
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