Jeff: I’m a big fan of surprising people. I really love to see the look on people’s faces when they’re surprised. Sometimes I forget what gifts I’ve given people because I’m so excited to see their reaction that I forget.

The idea to surprise Jennie at her parents house for Thanksgiving snuck into my head about a month or two earlier. The first step was to establish a line of communication with Jennie’s parents. Two people I had never met, never talked to before so I had literately no idea what I was getting myself into. I think it started with an email, then a phone call and before I knew it I was getting on a plane in Boston and landing in Detroit, Michigan at 5 o’clock in the morning and meeting Mike and Terri for the first time.

Jennie’s flight arrived later that day, so I spent the better part of the morning asleep in her old bedroom. I awoke with two cats sleeping on my chest. Please pardon the poor iPhone 1G quality. Mike came up and informed me that he was going to go get Jennie and I should hide in the designated part of the house where she would never look, the back laundry room.

Jennie was situated in the dining room, I came into the kitchen and asked Terri if she wanted any coffee. Jennie didn’t turn around, obviously not recognizing my voice. So it wasn’t until I was standing next to her that she realized I was there.

Jennie: I was surprised, let me tell you. Obviously I was so surprised I didn’t even know Jeff was there. I just was confused and kept asking how, why, what? But it was a lovely surprise to get to show Jeff my life in Michigan, and I cherish that memory even more now that my parents no longer live in that house, knowing he got to spend my favorite holiday there once.