Nose for News, By Sarah Stultz

I never would have thought that keeping a secret for a couple months about a surprise visit back home would have been so difficult to do.

My mom has been planning her retirement for months, and a few months ago my dad sent out an email to me and my sisters asking if we had thought about coming out at all to Virginia for her retirement party. I thought about it for a day or two before bringing up the idea to my husband, who hates flying.

Surprisingly enough, he said he would be willing to fly again — we haven’t flown for at least 8 1/2 years after a bad flying experience when our daughter, Sophie, was an infant. Needless to say, we were in the middle of a bad storm, and we experienced some heavy turbulence. In deciding to board a plane again, my husband left it with the caveat that if we had another bad flight, that might be the end of flying for him permanently.

Before he could change his mind, I quickly emailed my dad and told him our plans to come out to visit. At first, I had thought about us just showing up at my parents’ house the day before the retirement party, and then we decided to instead let my mom know a few days ahead of the party on her birthday with a message in her birthday card that said, “See you in a few days.”

Fast forward several weeks to about a couple weeks ago, and we thought the cat might have come out of the bag.

I had told my good friend from back home that we were planning a surprise visit and that it would be fun to meet up when I was home. She must not have caught the part about it being a surprise because a few days later she inadvertently said something to my mother at church about how she was excited that I was going to be coming home — judging by my mom’s response, she quickly realized she probably shouldn’t have said anything.

My mother went home that day and asked my dad about it, who nonchalantly said he didn’t know anything about it. Miraculously, nothing more was said.

Knowing, however, that the thought was still probably in the back of her mind, I’ve been afraid to call my mom during the last two weeks out of fear she might ask me about my friend’s comment. I’ve been texting her more instead, and she’s probably been wondering why.

Now the day has finally arrived. It’s my mom’s birthday. Somehow we made it to this point with the cat at least partially still in the bag.

Mom, I’m not sure if you’ll see your birthday card or this column first, but in case you see this first, “Surprise! We’ll see you in a few days.” And don’t worry, I’ll be calling now again more often.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. her column appears every Tuesday.