Plastic Chairs

Day 80: Plastic Chairs

My poor father-in-law was sitting in this chair yesterday when it
collapsed in the middle of the party. Luckily, he wasn't injured.
I promised my father I would get rid of all of these chairs today.
They are 15 years old, but I thought they were in good shape. My bad.

I now know what it feels like to be completely, utterly, overwhelmingly surprised. Yesterday was Emma's (and her friend Francesca's) graduation party at our house. It was a day of cleaning, organizing, preparing food, running errands, fielding text messages and phone calls, moving furniture, washing glasses, wiping counters, arranging flowers, weeding the cracks in the sidewalks. What if no one comes? What if we run out of food? What if we run out of ice? What if we run out of chairs? What if the teenagers sneak beer? What should we do about the dog? The peeling paint on the front porch? The flowers already fading in the vases? Should we park the cars in the driveway or on the street? 

I can't help it. I'm a worrier.

So when Rich came back from Ali Baba's with a car full of catered food and asked me to help unload it, I was annoyed. Sam was helping unload. Jane was helping unload. I was busy folding towels. Hanging curtains (yes, that's right, hanging curtains). Hiding stuff in drawers. Sweeping the floor. But he insisted.

OMG! Sarah was waiting for me on the front porch! OMG! My oldest, closest friend, the keeper of my memories, whom I met on the first day of high school, whom I've traveled with, lived with, commiserated with, talked with, yelled at, laughed at, laughed with, cried with for decades since. I never thought I'd see her here, in Ann Arbor, on my own front porch. OMG! Tears flowed, and it was a half an hour before my heart rate slowed down.

Which is probably why, three hours later, with the party in full swing, I didn't even recognize Miranda, my other closest beloved friend. (Yes, I have more than one closest friend. I do.) It was just too much to take in. And then they were both here for the party, with my best Ann Arbor friends, all together, here, in my house, with my in-laws, my siblings, my parents, my husband, my children and my best friends. And Rich arranged all this! For me! For my birthday! And he invited them and they came! OMG!