September 9, 2006 was a special day for me….let me explain. Waking up on that beautiful sunny Saturday morning, little did I know everything that would be in store for me the rest of the day.Saturday morning started when my father, my friend Jeff Whetzel, and I went to my friend Jeremy Diller’s house to shoot our guns. Jeremy lives out in the country and we brought our guns with us and had a great time shooting clay pigeons and other targets. After we were finished with our testosterone boosting morning, I was looking forward to going home and relaxing for several hours before the big Ball State – Indiana University football game that Jeff and I would be attending later that evening.
Jeff said that he wanted to come over to my house and go fishing after we were done playing with our guns and my father and I followed him in the car back to my house. I saw that there were a bunch of cars there as well as balloons tied to her mailbox. I then quickly remembered that Christie told me earlier that she invited some of Gibson’s friends to go swimming for his birthday. When I saw that there were about 20-25 people standing in the driveway and garage, I remember thinking, “dang, how many people did she invite?”
I parked the car on the lawn and my father and I walked up the driveway. I couldn’t figure out why everyone was standing there looking at me, many of them with camera’s in hand. Christie then came up to me with tears in her eyes and gave me a big hug and a kiss, and said “This is for you, because I love you so much.” I was a bit confused, and then she said, “This is for you; It’s a surprise 40th birthday party!”Well I was certainly surprised, because I wasn’t turning 40 until December 1. I then looked at the crowd and saw many of my friends and family members. I then saw my sister Viki and my cousin Lisa from Ohio. I then realized that wow, this was a surprise!
Christie had been planning this party for months. There were several times when she thought I was figuring out what was going on, but I didn’t have a clue. The “gunfest” over at Jeremy’s house was just a ploy to get me out of town for a few hours so they could get everything prepared for the party.
She even had entertainment for the party! First we had a clown who made balloon animals and hats. Then we had a magician. While swimming in the pool with my friends and family members I felt like a little kid because I was truly excited when I was told that the magician was here and that I had to get out of the pool so I could go watch the magic show!
It was so awesome to see everyone at the party. I can’t believe how much work Christie went into planning this, without me knowing about it. Everyone seemed to have a great time.
As fun as the day was, the festivities were still not over yet. Jeff and I have season tickets to Ball State football games and they had a big game that evening at home against IU. I hated to leave the party as there were still many people there, but hey I love football and this was a big game for BSU.
Ball State ended up losing the game, but we had a great time anyway. When we returned from Muncie, there were still a few people there cleaning up from the party. I remember telling Christie that this was probably one of best days I ever had. She was pleased to hear that I had a great day.
This is a day that I will never forget. Christie, I love you too!
