Thornhills

The look on Kristi's face at the exact moment of surprise was exquisite.

Better than that, it was perfect.

The plan was for Kristi Thornhill's husband, David, to take her to Sophie's for some winding-down time, and then when they were finished, to come to the house of their very good friends, Billy and Stacy West, who live across the street from them.

The best picture ever of the twins.

 You know, nothing special. After all, the Thornhills had just celebrated the high school graduation of their twin daughters, Sarah and Mary Evann, a mere 24 hours earlier with a blowout party for the girls. 

Now it was time for some peaceful, easy conversation.

Except that about 60 of Kristi's friends, neighbors and colleagues had surreptitiously gathered at the Wests to surprise Kristi, who is retiring after 31 years as a biology teacher at Lexington Senior High School. You know, the day after their youngest children graduated. Life events.

So when she walked through the door and the room erupted into cheers and shouts of "Happy Retirement," the look of shock on her face was absolutely beautiful. Watching her process the very moment as confusion melted into understanding was the best part. Especially when the tears came. And then the hugs.

She had no clue. Now she had her friends.

This weekend put me into a womb of reflection. The Thornhills have been our across-the-street neighbors for more than 20 years. Kim and I have seen their family grow and grow up; we've shared many evenings on porches and at fire pits; we've shared recipes and garden tools; we've shared each other's trust and confidence.

I have personally found it more than helpful to have a biology teacher in the block. More than once I've called her over to identify that huge spider in my rose garden, or that mold that mysteriously appeared in my pile of mulch. So far, nothing has been dangerous to my health. I'm assuming she would tell me if it were.

The Thornhill women driving through life...

As for the twins, well, there's this: About eight years ago, Kim and I woke up one Sunday morning to see our front walk covered in chalk graffiti. Uh oh.

But it turned out that the twins had spontaneously written their affection for us, telling us we were "the best neibors ever." (See here). Clearly, I'm never forgetting this. It's my own life event. What? Eight years ago? You've got to be kidding.

Now the girls are intelligent, beautiful young women ready to forge their own way into the world as they prepare to enter East Carolina University. Damn it, I keep telling myself not to blink my eyes or I'll miss something important. I never listen to me.

I don't want to leave out Lily, or Luke, or Dave. From what I've seen, Lily, the first born, sets the tone for her siblings. She's also the one who engineered this remarkable retirement surprise party. Luke, I think, is the devoted, protective big brother even though I believe all three of his sisters can fend for themselves. But he's always there for them, just in case...

And Dave. Well, both he and Luke are seemingly islands of testosterone standing in a sea of estrogen. To my mind, Dave is the unsung hero here, holding his family together while at the same time knowing it's time to let them go. They've all grown up.

From our perspective across the street, I feel like we are the fortunate ones. How do you luck into the neighbors we have? And it's not just the Thornhills, either. It's the entire block.

But this has been the Thornhill's week and I'll share this:

As Kristi wrote to Kim recently in a text following the twins' graduation: "Thank you for the love, support and mentorship you have continued to provide the girls. You are special to them and to us."

Damn it. Now I need a Kleenex.