It happened for the first time in Heathen history! They kept a secret about a present for the Asst. Zookeeper!
The Heathens understand what secrets are. They understand that secrets about presents for people are secrets meant to be kept so that they don't ruin the surprise.
The trouble is that the Heathens get so excited that they HAVE TO TELL. It literally kills them to not tell because they get so excited. Every year at Christmas and again in March, I go through the same conversation with the Heathens. "Don't tell your father what his present is, it is a surprise!" And every time, they swear that they won't tell. And every time, they do.
They kept the secret clear up until he opened his present!!!!! The Asst. Zookeeper was just as surprised as I was!
He has always said he wanted to try skydiving. For anyone that knows him, it really isn't a surprise. It goes along with the rappelling, rock climbing, motorcycles, whitewater boating, hiking, coal mining that describe his daily life. Obviously, I married an adrenalin junky - but I knew that going in.
We got him a day of skydiving in Grove City with Skydive PA. And it is NOT a tandem jump - it is an instructor-assisted jump. He's always said when he got to go, he didn't want to be attached to another jumper.
With the Heathens, there has to be a present to open for a gift like this. Opening of the gift signals them that they no longer have to keep the secret. So, for something to open, we bought the Asst. Zookeeper a bunch of parachute toys. I'm sure everyone has seen the little army guys with parachutes that you throw into the air and they float back down. Believe it or not, I couldn't find any of them! But I did find a bunch of colored Easter rabbits and chicks with parachutes in the Easter section of WalMart - and they worked just as well.
Now, he just has to find the time to go!
