Christmas Surprise -- Coming home to Oakley

I surprised my family this Christmas. I came home for the holiday.

I worked Christmas Eve, and with the help of some great co-workers, was able to take off just before 11pm. Driving 5 and a half hours, I got home at 4:30am and crept into my room. My brother, Kevin, was the only one who knew I was coming home and put a note on my door saying, "Christmas surprise...do not open!"

I woke up at 9:30 and heard my parents talking. This was it. I called them from the cell phone in my room. I heard the house phone ring and my mom answer. "Good morning, Bry!...Hello?" As she was on the phone, I walked down the hallway and said, "Hello!"

They were completely surprised!

We opened gifts Christmas morning. Everyone got a 2011 calendar with pictures from our family vacations over the past few years.

That afternoon we visited both sets of grandparents. Spending about an hour with my dad's parents, Nani and Nano. Then we had dinner with mom's parents, Grandma and Grandpa. When they exclaimed how happy they were I was home, I said, "I'm just glad to be here and to see you."

Delicious food and great company.

Christmas night we watched home movies from our family trip to Washington DC and New York City.

The remainder of the weekend held another surprise -- not the good kind and this time everyone was caught off guard.

My dad's dad, Nano, passed away unexpectedly.

But if there is one small bright side, it's that Christmas brought me home and I was blessed to be able to see and talk with him when I visited. And he got to celebrate the greatest of holidays with his family, too.