It was now time to return back to the motel and meet with the final arrival: Gaetano, who had flown in from Toronto to Moncton and driven up from there to Bathurst, was scheduled to arrive.
courtesy JInnes
After re-uniting with Gaetano, it was time to get ready for the surprise birthday dinner.
My dad had been told that there would be a simple birthday dinner with my brother Alphonse and wife Dolores (Alphonse and Dolores live in Bathurst, so going out to dinner with them was a regular affair). George had arranged for all of us to arrive at the Atlantic Host Hotel (where the birthday dinner was being held) at 5pm, and had directed my brother Alphonse to tell my parents that their birthday dinner was to begin at 6pm. This should have given us more than enough time for all of us to gather ahead of my parents.
Gathering in the Back Room
Unfortunately, a small comedy of errors resulted in not all of us being present at the time of my parents' arrival. For one, George had been a little ambiguous in the instructions, directing that my Mom urge my dad to arrive not at 6pm exactly, but 'for 6pm'. It appears she interpreted that as meaning she should arrive in advance. Secondly, we thought it might be wise to send someone (Carl) on a scouting mission to discover exactly when my parents left their house, then communicate to us this information via cellphone.
These two decisions interacted in a bad way, and my parents ended up arriving at the dinner shortly after 5:30... with Carl still out on the road looking for my parents' car, and Alphone and Dolores not yet arrived.
It was all still a big hit, of course, just not all at once, with Carl and Alphonse arriving on the scene shortly after the big 'reveal'. He was quite impressed to see that everyone in the family, including all of his grandchildren, had made this journey to Bathurst!
We had a fine time over the next few hours.... well, re-uniting!
