Unplanned.

Last Monday, Sean called me on his break and asked me when I want to visit my mom.
I thought about it for a second and said, "Let's go on Friday".

I knew that my little sister Maryanna would be there. And I'm sure that most of you know that anytime I get to see any of my sisters I get a little pep in my step. On the drive over to see my mom, I realized that I had not spoken to my sister Priscilla in a few days so I called her to say hi and see how she and my nephew were doing. She asked what I was up to, being a Friday and all and I said that Sean and I were driving over to see mom. She paused and then quickly said, "That's nice, I'm thinking of visiting mom soon too".

My nephew began to nag my sister to talk to me and when he got on the phone he began to ask when was he going to see me. I told him anytime he wanted because I always wanted to see him. He then asked what I was doing and I said that I was driving to go see grandma. He began to say something but then my sister snatched the phone from him and told me that she'll have to call me back because her phone was dying.

I said OK and that I missed her and couldn't wait until our next reunion.

Fast forward an hour or so and we drive up to my parent's house and parked in the driveway is Priscilla's car! Sean looks over at me and said, "Did you know your sister was here?" I said, "No way, she didn't tell me on the phone either". It appears that when I was talking to my sister earlier she was also driving to my parent's house and decided to surprise us! I ran inside the house and began to freak out, hugging my sister and telling her that this was the best surprise ever! Then I hugged my nephew and went to find Maryanna to give her hugs as well.

When she saw me she said, "Do you know that Emma is coming here today as well?" And I stopped in my tracks and said, "No way, you're kidding, right?" And she said "No, you guys didn't plan this?" I replied, "No, we absolutely did not plan this".

I had no idea that my sisters had planned on being at the house Friday evening (except for Maryanna) since for some reason all of us decided to visit my mom at the last minute. Normally, we are really good about planning things with a fair amount of notice.

I went upstairs to greet my mom and she asked the same thing, are you sure you guys didn't plan this? And I said, mom, I promise this was not planned; it is just the best coincidence. My mom said that when she began to get news of all of us visiting her on Friday she began to think that we were up to something. But we were not up to anything. Life just made it possible for us all to be together, at the same time, under one roof without the extra planning it usually takes for us all to get together.

Thirty minutes later, my sister Emma, my niece and brother in law have arrived and the house is just full of so much energy. Zach is playing a game on one of my sister's phone and Noa is sitting next to him watching intently. Zach stops every once in a while to explain the game to her. I smile because she insists on wearing her backpack which I find to be the cutest thing.

My mom is in her bed and I'm laying besides her. Maryanna is sitting on the bed across from my mom and I. Sean is sitting on a chair on the right side of my mom. Priscilla is on a chair on the far left side. Emma and Brian are sitting on the carpet, side by side, and Noa and Zach are sitting together by the door still completely entertained by my sister's phone.

Here we all were. Chatting, laughing, teasing and loving each other.

At one point, I look over to my mom and a smile has hit her lips. And I think at that moment she knew that we were all happy.
Not just happy but happy together.

This was one of those days when everything just felt right and it is a memory that I will keep in my heart for always. Cherry on top is when you go through your phone when you get home and find that your nephew decided to take an abundant amount of selfies for your viewing pleasure. Many out of focus and poorly angled but you can't ignore the big smile in each selfie.

Family time will always, always be my favorite time and when it is unplanned it felt (if possible) even better.