At first blush one could believe that a one year old's birthday party would not be occasion for gathering a large group of adults. and might even be possible to conceive that it would not be the best place in the world for someone that was struggling with grief and forming new relationships. For me the party was an absolute smash. It was so much fun watching Christian and Jamie having a party for their friends and there were a lot of people there. A majority of the crowd was family; there seemed to be an overabundance of little people running around and it was pretty evident that there was no limit on the number of guests based on the age of the celebrant. It was not only refreshing but for me invigorating and restorative to be in the midst of a group that was carrying so much for the little ones while also caring for each other. It was a real privilege to be there. I also was quite pleased that if I indicated a desire or willingness to chat, their response was always very positive. If I chose to quietly watch the football game, that was accepted and generally people just joined me in watching. There was no such thing as being alone. With three dogs, and a large group of people -- ranging in age from 1 to 75, there was always something happening just about anywhere on the property. That made it so easy to move in and out of groups or just watch.
Last night before going to bed I had read some of the e-mails that are on the blog on the pages to the right, and one of those e-mails was from Scott and Alycia. Alycia was there today with her two children and I had a chance to tell her how touched I was by what they wrote. Her response was as if she had been wanting to ask I was doing but was afraid to because it might be painful for me. We had a good conversation and it resulted in us exchanging phone numbers and her invitation for us to have lunch or just come hang out at their house any time I wanted to.
I also had opportunity to check with Christian concerning the projects that we had started and I had left unfinished; to chat with Lee about a change in strategy for his birthday; Ed and I exchanged pleasantries and biases about politics and football; and I spent most of the time watching Allie as she was the delight of so many people, and as her mother worked hard to get her to open presents. I was most complemented by Allie's not wanting to put down the “cell phone” that I had picked up for her when Jamie and I went to Wal-Mart.
The food was good, the cake was great, Allie was her most charming self, the interaction and fellowship was incredibly restorative, and I came away feeling that I had rejoined life. Another first was that I for the first time ever, I watched a Florida game without Margaret, and that did not dawn on me until after I had gotten home and was watching the Alabama game.
It was a very good day.
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