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Topic starter
06/09/2023 11:17 pm
This "Coffee Talk" is a special one for me.
NEW DRIVER IN THE FAMILY
When Lorraine's 70th birthday was rolling around a year and a half ago, I wanted to do something special for her. Doing something special for her is always so much fun. As the milestone approached, I was racking my brain, wondering how I could make it a memorable day.
Then it hit me, wouldn't it be cool if I could give her the opportunity to ride/drive a Zamboni. Huh, you ask? What would make me think of that? Well it just happens that for as many years as we've been together, whenever we've been to a hockey game or watched hockey on TV, Lorraine has often, just in passing, murmured that, "it would be fun to ride on one of them".
So with that 70th approaching and being that I couldn't make inquiries on my own, so as to not accidently have Lorraine find out what I was attempting to do, I called daughter Kari and asked her if she could do some research for me to maybe make that ride happen. My thought was that maybe the Minnesota Wild (our hockey team) would possibility offer such a thing.
As it turned out at the time in late March/early April of 2022, just a few weeks before her birthday in May, it was the end of the hockey season and the Wild couldn't grant such a request. Kari informed me that she would continue to work on it. However, as it turned out, we weren't able to put anything together before or right around #70.
But now it became more of a challenge for me and I requested that Kari continue to inquire around. Well, as it turned out, we just weren't having any luck making this "something special" for Lorraine happen. Flash forward to 2023 and still not waving the white flag of defeat, Kari called me to advise that she'd found a place that will actually give not only rides on a Zamboni, but also allow a guest to drive one. Yes! Lorraine would be able to drive a Zamboni.
Kari had talked with the Hopkins Pavilion Ice Arena, and an appointment could be made, but not until September. The earliest date was September 6th. Kari set the date and time, it would be two hours, and then she called me and told me to put it on the calendar. This being a "secret" and a "surprise", I merely went to our desk calendar for September, and on the 6th wrote, "George: 9:00 to 11:00AM". Nothing else. So the months of May, June, July, and August passed with neither me or Kari talking about it, so as to not accidently let the secret out. Lorraine did see the entry on the calendar after I wrote it and asked me, "What's going on that day?". Obviously caught off guard with her question, I quickly said, "I can't tell you, it's a surprise".
After that, it wasn't mentioned again by me or Kari, nor did I even talk about. Now comes a hilarious moment...
As Lorraine turned the August page on the calendar this past weekend to September, she looked at what was happening for this first week, and asked me, "What do you have going on, on Wednesday (which was the 6th, today)?". I looked at it, and honestly, I had forgotten why I even put the entry on today's date". Lorraine says, "Well it's in your writing and when you put it on there, you said, it was a surprise and you couldn't tell me".
Honestly, I was clueless. Seriously, I did not remember for the life of me why I marked the 6th. And hey, in my defense, it had been since April that I'd written it. We had a busy summer with the usual Lorraine's birthday and Mothers Day in May, then granddaughter Shayla's high school graduation, Fathers Day, old car shows, family gatherings, Shayla's grad party, and then our 11 day baseball trip in August. Positively after marking the calendar for September 6th, and knowing that we couldn't (and didn't) talk about it, so we didn't accidently spill the surprise, I really did forget.
For the last five days since seeing that entry, I racked my brain, and just couldn't recall what it meant. I told Lorraine, I don't know why I put it on there, but obviously it couldn't have been very important if I can't remember what it was, and I crossed it off the calendar.
Then BAM! On Tuesday morning (the 5th), I got a Text message from Kari asking, "Still on for tomorrow?". I had no idea what she was talking about! I Texted her back, "What's tomorrow?". Her simple reply back was, "9am Mom's surprise?". Hey man, I was freaked out, because this wasn't connecting with me, but I now realized it must have something to do with my calendar entry for the 6th. I called Kari, got her "voice mail" and left a message to call me. Immediately as I got off my phone, OMG!, the light bulb went on in my head. I mean it went on so bright, it lit up the room! I quickly sent Kari another Text saying, "OMG! Zamboni???. It just came to me. YES! Call me and we'll work out the details".
I began giggling at this turn of events, that now made the entire surprise even more fun. I told Lorraine I figured it out, and we had to be at Kari's by 8:40 in the morning. Still of course NOT telling her why or what the surprise was. We drove to Kari's, picked her up, and then drove to Hopkins.
My wanting to surprise Lorraine with this Zamboni experience turned out more perfect than Kari and I could have imagined. We walked in to the Ice Arena, Lorraine still clueless, and were greeted by Jody, who Kari had made the appointment with. Jody immediately said, "You must be Lorraine" and shook her hand. We stepped in to her office and she welcomed Lorraine and said, "So you're going to drive a Zamboni today". Lorraine's eyes actually teared up and she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, what?". We told Jody that we'd not told her of the surprise, and Lorraine's reaction was worth all the fun we had making this happen.
This was the full meal deal folks. Lorraine watched a short training video, and then we were walked out to the arena where the fresh new ice was just laid yesterday on the rink. Jody introduced us to Keith, who would be Lorraine's "tag-a-long" instructor, as she DROVE THE ZAMBONI.
He went over all the functions, the buttons, and the controls. He had Lorraine get in the drivers seat, gave her further instruction and told her to "Back the Zamboni out of the garage". LOL, Kari and I giggled, as backing up isn't one of her better qualities as a driver. We silently whispered giggling to each other, "She's going to out take a wall, and we're going to have to start a GoFundMe page to pay for it".
Lorraine showed us! She not only backed that huge machine out perfectly, but she drove it around the rink several times. And was able to actually prepare the rink as they do between periods during a hockey game. Kari and I had both the giggles and tears as we watched Lorraine crossing this "wouldn't it be fun dream to drive a Zamboni" off her Bucket List.
We had surprised her! She said she would never have guessed this in a million years. And this is what made today so special! At the end of her ice work, she drove the Zamboni back in to the garage and emptied all the snow out of the shoot collected from the rink.
Jody reappeared, handed Lorraine a "Certificate of Completion" and a "Photo" of her on the Zamboni and a cap too. WOW! And WOW again! Making her happy is my personal greatest joy. She forever is my greatest blessing!
HAPPY BELATED 70th BIRTHDAY LORRAINE! It was special for all of us!
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
06/09/2023 11:36 pm
Oh my gosh, that thing looks so much bigger than it does when you're sitting in the bleachers! Nice job George! Now that Lorraine graduated from Zamboni training, don't be surprised if she gets phone calls from the rink to resurface the ice when the regular driver is out sick.
John Kuvakas and john barry reacted
Topic starter
07/09/2023 12:05 am
Oh my gosh, that thing looks so much bigger than it does when you're sitting in the bleachers! Nice job George! Now that Lorraine graduated from Zamboni training, don't be surprised if she gets phone calls from the rink to resurface the ice when the regular driver is out sick.
LOL, I teased her after she was done that the rink was signing her to a "six-figure salary". 
She is so adorable! Every day with her is like a first date. With our 50th anniversary coming around in January 2024, I've got to come up with something "special". LOL, got to rack my brain again. I've been so blessed.
George Schire
Oakdale, Minnesota
07/09/2023 12:07 am
Oh wow George.....what a GREAT idea! An absolutely perfect surprise and a memory she will always treasure. Good for you two!
John Kuvakas and George Schire reacted