I outdid my previous surprise

Back in July my nephew got hospitalized when he was on vacation in Istanbul. I was still in Kuwait and since the tickets were cheap, I surprised my family for the weekend. My dad was in Kuwait with me so he knew about it, my brother in law knew about me coming as well. You could read about the surprise here.

Since I moved to Istanbul, I’m obviously away from my family. This month my dad turns 70 (knock on wood) and I wouldn't want to miss it for the world to be there with him celebrating his new age. His birthday fall on the day where winter break starts for private schools so the tickets are a lot more expensive on his actual birth date. I decided to go earlier and surprise him this time!

Everyone knew about me coming except for my dad and my nephew. If Kiyan knew, then he would tell my dad and there would be no surprise. Anyway I had some stuff to do and was unsure of which date I should be flying to Kuwait. After I finished what I had to do, I went to buy my ticket (around 12 noon), went home to pack and left home a little after 5 pm! I have never in my life bought a ticket just a couple of hours before leaving my home! It felt insane and rushed. My dad usually calls or messages to make sure we don’t forget anything but since he had no idea about it, I had to triple check everything! It got a little stressful.

My brother in law picked me up from the airport and I spent the night at my sister’s home. Kiyan had no idea I was there and he was pretty shocked to see me in the morning. He went inside to his mom and told him “there’s someone inside” which I find hilarious.

According to my mom, my dad wanted to go to the market early morning. Mom convinced him to stop by my sister’s house and insisted that Kiyan wanted to see her. They came up as my dad waited in the car. In a couple minutes, we headed downstairs and I went in after my mom and Seda, I jumped up and said “surprise!” His face? Priceless, with absolutely no facial expressions. He was so shocked and he even told my mom that night that he couldn't believe it and was thinking if it was really me there standing.

That night we all went for a very nice dinner and enjoyed some family quality time. It was truly a great night, filled with lively conversations and laughs.

I came back to Istanbul Tuesday morning. It was a well 3 days spent with people I adore, wouldn't have changed a thing!

Baba’s real birthday is December 18!