In May, my older brother graduated from college and secured a job in Columbus, Ohio. He moved there immediately after graduating. I spent the summer at home working and taking an online class. Then I headed back to Utah to start my junior year of college. I didn't get to see my brother at all throughout the summer or the fall. I My brother and I are really close, we always have been,and since September, we began talking on the phone about once a week. We would just catch up about what each of us are doing and how things are going. I told him that I wished he could come home for the holidays but he told me that his new job was really strict with vacation and that they wouldn't give him any time off because it was his first year with the company. I was really sad about it because I didn't know when the next time was that I would be seeing him. Maybe in the summer, maybe not? I went home to Colorado for Thanksgiving, but he stayed in Ohio, and my parents told me how sad they were that he wouldn't be coming home for Christmas this year.
Flash forward two weeks. I was back in Utah and had just finished my finals. I was getting ready to fly home on a Friday morning. I was excited to be heading home, and mainly to be able to relax with my parents and not have to worry about school. My mom picked me up from the airport around lunch time, and immediately began telling me all the things we had to do to get ready for our two Christmas parties we had on that Sunday. We had one at the Children's home my family has been volunteering at for 11 years, and then one at our house with our family and friends. We had to make food for both of them and so my mom started listing off things we had to get at the store. I started making a grocery list, and she started making a timeline in her head for how we were going to get it all done. My mom dropped me off at home, and then had to go back to work for the remainder of the day. I took a little nap because I hadn't got much sleep that week because of finals, and then went for a run and did a few things around the house. My mom got home later and we had dinner together, and then at 9:30 that night my dad returned home from work. I watched the Amazing Race and Shark Tank, and then went to bed. In the morning, I woke up around eight o'clock, and had some breakfast. My mom had told me she was going to Spin class (indoor biking class) at seven, and then afterwards she was probably going to go on a ride outside with some of her teammates. She does this all the time. She is quite crazy with her biking. She said she would be by noon at the latest, but that I could call her when I got up to see where she was at. She said that if she didn't answer her phone, it was because she was out riding. I called her after eating breakfast, and she didn't answer, so I knew she out riding. About thirty minutes later she called me back, asking me if I had been to the grocery store. I told her no because I was waiting for her so we could go together. She asked me if I had run yet, and I told her no, assuming I would do so after we went to the store. She said she was just leaving, and would be home in about 40 minutes, so I should go on a run while she was making her way home, and then we would go to the store when she got home. So I changed into workout clothes, and went out for a little jog. When I returned from my run, I saw my mom's car in the driveway and knew she had beaten me home, although I didn't think I had been gone for 40 minutes. She was taking stuff out of her car to bring inside, and I decided to help her. I grabbed a bag of hers to bring inside. I walked into the door in front of my mom and set her bag on the ground. "Look who's here." She said pointing to the stairs. I looked up, and saw my brother sitting on the stairs. For about ten minutes, I felt as though I was in a dream. I looked around to see what was happening. There was even a point where my brother came down the stairs and said to me "You can touch me. I'm real." I gave him a hug, and said "I can't believe you are home for the weekend." He said to me "What are you talking about? You think I would just come for the weekend? I am here through Christmas." That is when it really sunk in. He was here through Christmas. And then his girlfriend Autumn, came downstairs, and said that she was here for about a week and a half, and then she was heading home to spend Christmas with her family. The four of us went to the grocery store together, and returned to our house to make food for our Christmas parties. It really was the best surprise ever. I spent the break just hanging out with my family, playing games, and going places. It is a surprise that I will remember for the rest of my life. Good job to my parents and my brother for not spoiling it!