50th Anniversary Party, Part 1: Getting Prepared

My three sisters and I started planning in earnest for this party back in July, with input from my parents. They told us the essential thing that would make the event special: having all four daughters home to celebrate with them. They also wanted friends, neighbors, and congregants, but mainly they wanted their girls in Maryland.

So the two from out of state booked their flights for a long weekend. The event was to take place on Saturday, October 29, 2011, from 3-5 pm, on what we predicted would be a gorgeous fall day.

Hands-on preparation started Thursday night when the sisters gathered at my house to make
the centerpieces and cut up fruit and veggies.

On Friday, we went to the clubhouse with my dining room chairs, a rented bistro table and other rented items, all our pumpkin vases and other floral arrangements. (The one above was done professionally. Isn't it stunning?) My future daughter-in-law Deirdra, and my sister Andrea
dressed the tables in fall colored tablecloths. Jill set up the AV equipment while Dee set tables; Rachel organized the food and greeting table while I worked on getting the picture presentation boards set up and coffee urns and paperware in place. We were all too busy running around to get any more than this single pre-party photo. Oh well.


In the midst of setting up, we got a call from the cake decorator, a long time friend of Jill's who lives in Bowie, about an hour and a half from the clubhouse. She said that the forecast of 2-6 inches of snow--yes, SNOW!--might prevent her from delivering the cake. I prayed silently, "Lord, please hold off the snow! We don't have another dime for a storebought cake and it won't be nearly as special as Pam's."

The next day we attended shabbat where my dad preached on getting prepared for the return of Yeshua (Jesus). It was one of those moments I stopped and thought, "I'm so busy being about the here and now, what am I doing to plan for eternity?" Seemed in that instant I once again thought about how much of life is planning. In the image of God we're made.

We scurried out after oneg shabbat (the luncheon that typically follows the service) and made a beeline for the clubhouse to meet the photographer and set up all the food and drinks. On the drive over, snow began to fall. Or should I say, "fall began to snow"?