This Sunday, on August 9th, George will celebrate 30 years of sobriety.  It’s not something he talks about very much and I’ve never mentioned it on the blog.  In 1985, George entered rehab.  He was only 24 years old.  He was there for an entire year, but he hasn’t had a drink or done a drug since.  Amazing.

When we planned our trip to Chicago, I enlisted the help of G’s sisters and step-mother to plan a surprise party for George.  They were completely on board and it made me so happy how excited they were to celebrate.  And we managed to keep it a secret from him.

Last Sunday, on our last day in Chicago, we sent George to the movies with his brother-in-law and two nephews.  The rest of us started setting up everything.  Any party for George should include cake and his favorite color, purple.

The cakes were supposed to have the same color frosting, but the cake decorators had a different idea I guess.  I also edited the pictures so the cakes are  easier to read.  Anyway, one cake had pastel colors and the other had more bold colors.  We got enough cake for about 96 people, even though we anticipated having around 30.  We are excellent party planners!  Oh and George’s initials are G.O.D.  Yes, you can call me Mrs. GOD.  Thank you.

We set everything up and waited for people to arrive.  We had a f*ckton of food too, don’t worry. George finally showed up.

He still didn’t know what was going on.  People were telling him congratulations and he didn’t know why.  He actually thought someone really screwed up.  I grabbed his hand and led him over to the cakes.

And that’s when he got it.  He even got teary-eyed and asked me for a napkin.

I took about a million pictures.

George’s sisters Debbie, Carla, Tiffani and ME!

George and his step-mom, Charlotte:

George’s cousin, Cherl:

She is hilarious, btw.  She got stuck babysitting George when he was a kid.  Poor Cheryl.  And yes, that means she’s older than G.  These f*ckers don’t age.

George and his brothers-in-law, Jason and Dre:

George and his cousin, Kyle.  Kyle is Cheryl’s son and he’s now a junior at Baylor.  Seeing these kids grow up really makes you feel like you’re getting old…fast.

I had to recruit a couple of kids to take pictures of me with my Chicago nieces.  It was pretty much a disaster and these are the best pictures of the 30 they took.

Carsyn’s sitting on my lap and Jayla and Brya are behind us.  I can’t believe I’ve been with George so long that I remember these girls as babies.  How is that possible?!

Needless to say, the party was a huge success and it was really fun to celebrate George’s amazing accomplishment.  We are all so proud of him!

Congrats G!