Best Christmas Surprise
I DON'T EXPECT YOU TO UNDERSTAND, BUT YOU'LL STILL CRY
THE BACKGROUND • ANDY • HOW IT STARTED • THE BUILD-UP • THE BEST SURPRISE
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"It's not what's under the Christmas tree that matters, it's who's around it."
- Charles M. Schulz
The Background
Firstly, I feel the need to explain something about my family!
We are a little odd. That's a given.
We all also live within a five-minute drive of each other. And when I say all, I mean all: my parents, sister, aunties, uncles, cousins, and even my grandparents when they were alive.
Yeah, we're close.
Since I was a toddler in a nappy, we have spent every Christmas Eve at my auntie and uncle's house. During the celebrations, we'd play games, have the most outrageous competitions, eat, drink and be merry.
Some of the games when we were young included who could spot Santa flying in the sky, cards, monopoly and then off to bed with a festive film.
Over the years, our game nights grew into more and more of a competition. These competitions involved who could grow the best Hyacinth (a type of flower, if you didn't know) and who could take the best photo within a particular theme.
However, there was a problem. We couldn't decide on a winner, as we all voted for ourselves.
So, in stepped the legend that is my auntie's next-door neighbour: Andy.
Andy
Later in the evening, Andy, his wife and two daughters (very important - two daughters) would join us for a cider or five.
Then, he would judge some of the many competitions, never knowing whose entry was whose. "Fair", we thought, until the inevitable bribes and sleight of hand came into play.
Judge Andy became a tradition and quickly became a highlight of the night.
I couldn't pinpoint the year it first happened, but Andy decided to come in fancy dress. He would then spend the entire night in character, or at least until the cider had kicked in.
All of which leads me to now.
Nowadays, we all gather around the door in anticipation, eagerly awaiting Andy's reveal as to who he has come as, as well as the inevitable pantomime performance. All of which is kept a highly guarded secret.
Are you still following?
How it Started
I was chilling with my cousin Rob in Melbourne, Australia, one sunny November day in 2014 when we received news back home (in England) that our gran had become ill. Obviously, the family were worried about her, as were we. After all, she was in her 80's.
They informed us that whilst there was no immediate threat, it appeared likely that this could be her last Christmas with us. As you can imagine, being that close with the family, it was devastating news.
Our parents asked us if we were coming home to see her during the festive period.
We claimed we couldn't afford to but devised a plan nonetheless.
Frankly, there was only one way to surprise them. It had to be at our family's bonkers Christmas Eve event. It was the one guarantee that everyone would be in the same place.
Therefore, we contacted Andy and informed him of our plans and... that we wanted him to be involved. Of course, he replied, "No problem", and we quickly came up with the idea of dressing him as a knight, with us as his faithful steed.
So, as one does, we bought a pantomime horse costume to disguise ourselves.
The Build-Up
We now needed to convince the family we were not coming home.
It was late December in LA, and we were crashing at our friend's place. Whilst at their house, we took a photo under the Christmas tree in our pyjamas, pretending it was Christmas Eve morning, all looking excited for Christmas Day.
After sad goodbyes in LA around the 22nd of December, we flew out and landed back in England without anyone except Andy and one friend knowing.
At lunchtime (LA time) on Christmas Eve, our friends posted the photo on social media with a short comment which had our entire family fooled. As the family read the post, we snuck into Andy's house.
Once there, we could hear all the family next door laughing and joking. After a few ciders, surprising Andy's two daughters and a couple of practice performances in our pantomime horse costume, we were ready for the big reveal.
We had planned everything to perfection. Even Andy's two daughters wore the brightest of socks during the evening, so when our family saw a pantomime horse wearing those socks, they would assume it was them.
This is what followed...
The Best Surprise Return Ever
Finally, thanks for taking the time to learn about what makes me tick and my weird and wonderful family traditions.
Do you have any peculiar family traditions?
If so, let the tribe know by adding your funny stories in the comments below. If it's amusing but too embarrassing to share, send us a private message on Insta; we need a laugh.
