Continuing on in the spirit of absolutely crushing my parents’ birthdays this year, I decided to fly back to Ontario for a quick minute and surprise my dad for his 60th birthday. What was particularly funny about this trip was about two weeks prior my dad was giving me a hard time about moving across the country and him not being able to see me. He went on and on about how he didn’t know the next time he was going to see me, all the while I was trying not to chuckle because I knew I’d see him in a few short weeks.
In a series of things going wrong, it somehow led to the most perfect surprise. My flight was incredibly late so I didn’t get to my grandparents’ house until shortly after 2 am. While this is usual time for me to sleep, I knew I wasn’t going to get up in time to surprise my dad before he left to pick up my brother from work. So I resigned to decorate the cupboards with happy birthday balloons and then went to sleep.
Being the worst morning person in the world, I ended up sleeping in until 10:30 a.m. Little did I realize, this was absolutely perfect timing. It would have been 8:30 in the morning in Alberta, and I likely would have just been leaving to head to work since I’m notoriously late. I sent a quick text asking what my dad was doing to confirm he was home, then called him as I walked up the basement stairs.
“Rebecca, you’re going to be late for work again!”
“I know Dad, it’s okay though. I’m just on my way. Happy birthday!”
And I pushed open his bedroom door while we were still on the phone.
It was the first time in my life I’ve witnessed my dad be unsure of himself. You could tell he was debating if his brain was working properly. He was stunned I was standing in his doorway.
There was nothing better I could have given to my dad for his birthday. He was absolutely delighted all weekend. It was so heartwarming and worth every penny it cost to get me home for the weekend.
I must say, the last few gift-giving occasions I’ve been giving experiences rather than things. I’m definitely going to make more of an effort to be creative and try and craft memories for gifts instead.
Do you give experiences as gifts? Would you share your experience gift ideas with me.
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