In honor of this past weekend being parents weekend, I got to spend some well needed time with my beautiful mother. It was a relaxed weekend, but it was also a blast just being with her. Since moving, my mom has become one of my best friends. Cliché, I know, but there is no other way to explain it. It is not often I get to show her how much I appreciate her, but one of my favorite memories with her was Labor Day weekend this past September because she got to see my love and appreciation in action.

It was my parents' 20^th anniversary this past year. They are definitely an inspiration to me and something I strive to find for myself in life one day. Teaching me to never settle for less than I desire or deserve and pushing me to not give up when people I love have hurt me, together they are extraordinary. So for their anniversary, my dad planned a surprise getaway trip to Santa Monica, California. They stayed at the Shutters, a beautiful hotel right on the beach and only a bike ride away from hotspot locations such as Venice Beach. It was hardly a sacrifice to make the six hour excursion when normally if I wanted to visit her it would be a fourteen hour drive to visit her at home in Colorado.

Since their anniversary was Labor Day weekend, I had plenty of time to make my own little vacation out of the weekend too. We drove through California and eventually planned on ending in Santa Monica surprising my mother. I had not seen her since the end of July and was more than a little excited to see her and she had absolutely no idea what was about to happen. My dad was in on the whole thing though, he kept her occupied and kept her from checking her phone to track my whereabouts. We did have one slip up that almost blew it; she saw a text from me on my dad's phone. We continued to play it off as if nothing abnormal was going on, and she still seemed oblivious, so the text must have been conspicuous enough to not set off any alarms.

It was a Sunday morning; my trip had finally led me to Los Angeles. My parents were wandering the streets of Hollywood Boulevard, shopping, exploring, and observing for the day, venturing out of Santa Monica. I had been in constant contact with my dad all morning but he had been terrible about replying with his location after a while so I took matters into my own hands. Since we all track each other as a family on our phones, I tracked my mom’s exact location. When I finally was coming around the last corner, I saw her, standing on the street corner not paying attention to her surroundings, waiting for an Uber. I had a split second to figure out how I wanted to handle this.

I ducked behind a cab before she could turn around to see me, she was facing my direction so I would be unable to sneak up on her. I also could not get my dad’s attention to turn her around, so I just stood up and faced her head on, I casually strolled right on up to her. I know she saw me immediately, but I am not sure it actually registered with her. Once it did though, the recognition on her face screamed confusion and a sort of peace all at once. I have never seen my mom so happy; it almost brought me to tears. My dad stood in the background laughing away, chanting about how we “got her good,” but in the end nothing could have made me happier than to just see that look of pure joy on her face. Surprising a parent has to be one of the best feelings in the world. This coming from a girl who hate surprises!