By Bobbie DeBoer

Oceanside CA— For many of us past the age of 6, birthdays can be a mixed bag of expectation and disappointment, and oftentimes totally forgettable. But for Oceanside’s Katherine Descoteaux, a series of fortunate events made this year’s birthday one she’ll never forget.
A former Marine and busy mom to 9-year-old Tres, Katherine’s first birthday surprise came when her boyfriend brought her sister, Alysee, to come to visit, along with their mom. The second surprise was that Katherine’s mom had gotten tickets for Katherine and Alysee to The Price is Right, one of their favorite shows. Shortly before the show was to be taped, they found out they had a chance to be on a prime time special of The Price is Right featuring players from The Amazing Race, another of Katherine’s favorites. Could it get much better than that?
With L.A. traffic to contend with, Katherine and Alysee were the last people to arrive at the studio and were sure they’d be stuck on the wait list. But no—the people ahead of them in line happened to have two extra priority tickets, so suddenly the girls found themselves seated in the audience waiting for the show to start.

Katherine Descoteaux on Price is Right from OsideNews on Vimeo.
The names of the players from The Amazing Race hadn’t been announced, but they were going to be members of the Harlem Globetrotters. Katherine’s son, Tres, is a huge Globetrotter fan, and they’d met Big Easy after a game in 2004.
“I was so excited about the Globetrotters,” said Katherine. “It was surreal. All of a sudden this 7 foot tall man walked out on the stage and I realized it was Big Easy! I almost had a panic attack!”
They waited excitedly to hear which audience member would be called to compete, and Katherine felt sure they’d call Alysee’s name. When Katherine’s name was called, she lost sight of everything around her and flew down to the stage. She couldn’t believe she was standing in front of the cameras with Drew Carey, Big Easy and Flight Time of the Harlem Globetrotters.
“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Katherine, “and I’d do it again in a heartbeat!”
To see how Katherine did, watch The Price is Right, Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. on CBS.