Letting the Cat Out of the Bag, Part II

I guess now you want to know how we told my parents, huh? Fine. I’ll have to back up again and give you a bit of history.

HISTORY
Remember how I told that Matt and I told no one we had finally decided to get married? I lied. I told my sister. Before you give me the stink eye because my sister knew before the parents, there was a very good reason. Two to be exact:

#1. She has helped set up and decorate weddings/receptions at a hotel she once worked at. She was a very valuable resource for me when it came to getting started and she did a TON of research for me.
#2. My Sister lives at home with my parents and I needed her to coordinate them for me which is not as easy as it sounds.

My parents are on opposite schedules. My Mother works nights as a night auditor for Marriot Hotels and my Father sells cars. With my Mom working nights and sleeping during the day and my Father working most weekends, it would have been impossible for me to get the two of them in one place at the same time without Reba’s help, especially since I live two hours north. She spied and asked them random questions about their schedules – making up a few white lie stories as necessary. Reba also hunted down restaurants that would work with us and help us surprise my parents. I really couldn’t have pulled this off without her help.

TELLING MY PARENTS
With my Sister’s help, we managed to get my parents in the same restaurant at the same time, a restaurant (Joe’s Crab Shack) that would help us announce our news. She left before us, telling my parents that she had to run an errand before going to the restaurant, but would meet us there. She was actually going to the restaurant ahead of us to set things up. She worked with a waitress to get us a table next to the windows over looking the water. She also had ‘stuff’ to give the waitress to help announce our news.

We settled at our table, ordered drinks and chatted about this and that. When the drinks came, my parent’s cups were covered with stickers - bouquets, rings, flutes, wedding bells, etc. Mine, Matt’s and Reba’s did not have these stickers. I was pretty sure that this would tip them off, but it didn’t. The three of us were trying to hold back the laughter – we were red in the face. When my Dad looked at his glass and said, “My and your (talking to my mother) glass have all these silly appliqués on it, theirs don’t.” The three of us lost it. We couldn’t hold the laughter back any longer. It was such a ridiculous situation.

We calmed down long enough to order our appetizers and meals – still giggling. The three of us ordered crab legs and when our dinners were ready to be served, the waitress came and put our lovely lobster bibs on us. Mine had a big bride holding flowers sticker on it, Matt’s had a big groom on one knee sticker on it and, of course, Reba’s didn’t have anything.

Still nothing from my Parents!

Then, I looked at my Mom. She was looking back and forth between me and my bib, Matt and his bib and her glass. THEN IT CLICKED and she stared at my Dad. Now, when my mom has figured something out before anyone else, she just sinks into her seat and hunkers down, proud of herself for figuring it out first. I knew she got it. My Dad, well, it was taking a bit longer.

We ate our dinner, chatting and joking around - the three of us still trying to keep our composure while trying to lead my Dad into “figuring it out.” Finally, my Dad asked for more lemons from the waitress. She brought him a plate of lemons with a big sticker on it that said, “THE PROPOSAL.” He looked at each of us and started laughing and then said to my Mother, “You think they’re trying to tell me something?”

FINALLY! Even the waitress wasn’t sure what it was going to take to get my Dad to figure it out.

We all had a big laugh. I asked my Dad to walk me down the isle and my Mom to make my dress. Of course, they were overjoyed. We took some pictures, had some laughs, finished our meals and went home. When we got out of the car, my Mom gave me a huge hug and said, “Aw. My baby girl.”

I haven’t been called that in a long time.