Whew! Mid-March
to mid-April is a super busy time for our family. We celebrate seven birthdays,
our own wedding anniversary, Easter, and spring break. As the person in the family
who does most of the entertaining, I especially enjoy figuring out how to
celebrate our special days and creating moments together that will be fun and
memorable.
As I grew up, my Mom taught me how to cook and I learned a lot as she hosted many parties. Year after year, we did the party planning together, and a full year could be as many as 40 events. My mom was deeply creative, fun, and she would always find ways to make each time unique. I miss her deeply.
We hosted all the usual celebrations plus… golf tournaments, parties with surprise guests, poker and casino nights, jewelry and fashion parties, holiday high teas, wine tastings, 3 course chocolate dinners, Santa visits, BBQs at the beach, wedding and baby showers, block parties, taco and movie nights, and many more. We demonstrated our love to others by feeding their hearts. Hosting is so much more fun when shared, so now I look forward to sharing that experience with my own children and grandchildren.
Recently, for a double birthday dinner and poker party, I cooked a carnitas dinner. We had 12 guests and so I set one long table. During dinner I glanced around. My Dad and his girlfriend were to my left, next to my husband. Across the table was my oldest daughter and husband, to my right were my youngest daughter and her husband. At the far right were the youngest members of the family, teenagers 17, 16, and our little Blakely Rae at 18 months. In that moment the generations were lined up; those in life’s undeniable and yet wise and beautiful twilight years (including me); next to the 35-45 aged group each bustling and dazzling gorgeous superstars in their own right; and the sunny glow of our youth smiling and laughing, untouched by life beyond 20.
I sat and wondered about the meaning of it all for just a minute. And then I said a prayer of thank you to God for blessing me with such a beautiful life, and the freedom to make of it anything I want it to be. That’s the secret I thought… it’s all in what you make of it!
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