I Shoulda Guessed

In 12 years of being married to Kevin, and four years of friendship and dating before that, he has never criticized any of my clothes.

Last Saturday, as I suited up to take our kids to a splash park with friends, I put my new shorts on. They were six dollars at Target, are BRIGHT green and have a pink stripe down each side. Kind of preposterous from a fashion perspective, but they were cheap and I purchased them expecting to only wear them running.

He cornered me in the closet and told me as gently as he could that he didn't like them and wanted me to change.

I found something else to wear, but it caused me a few tears. It seemed so unlike him that I thought I must have looked exceptionally terrible.

Less than half an hour later, we arrived at the park and it seemed like nearly everyone I've ever loved was standing in a group and shouting, "Happy Birthday!". Friends from past and present, near and far. It brought tears to my eyes, and readily explained the issue with the shorts. I'm guessing he didn't want me to look too "Target Clearance Rack" for a surprise gathering of my 100 closest friends. (Unfortunately, my Henderson Libraries 5K t-shirt passed his inspection, so all my party pictures are taken in that sloppy article of clothing.)

Kevin's parents served a scrumptious meal, but I barely tasted it because I was so emotional. It was VERY bizarre to sit at that splash park and look around to see friends I haven't seen in YEARS mingling with current buddies and other folks. I loved every minute and it was over far too soon.

Now, over a week later, I'm still glowing. And still trying to decide whether to scrap those Clearance shorts. I shoulda guessed something was up!

I love my husband.

There are lots of pictures, but these two capture some crucial moments.
Here I am after seeing all the friends lined up at the edge of the park. I promise I wasn't just emotional about being dressed too dowdy -- it was mainly all those great faces!!! I couldn't believe they all came to celebrate with ME!


Kevin (with lots of contributors) made me a beautiful scrapbook for my birthday. I never would have thought he'd tackle digital scrapbooking before me! I enjoyed looking at some of it at the party, though it made me cry all over again. The crown is compliments of my sweet friend Janice who came from Yucaipa! And yep, I wore it nearly the whole party.