A few months ago a group of special friends got together and hosted a super successful engagement party for our son who is getting married this weekend. I can say it was super successful for more than one reason. The first confirmation is the comment made by one of the young hosts: "You know it's a successful party when it starts to rain and still people don't leave." That was so true. Even though the party was held in the backyard garden of one of the friends, the light rain that came didn't run anyone away. People continued to talk and enjoy each other's company.
The old friendships being rekindled and the new ones being created took precedence over preserving hair-dos and crisp sundresses.
The second confirmation came later in a text from one of the young single guests. She said, "I didn't want to leave. I wanted to put down roots right there and live in the familial environment I sensed there." Such a comment warmed my heart, yet saddened me as well. I'm glad the people felt the love and the connection that prevailed, but it is a shame this stability is the exception rather than the norm. Thinking it over, our group of friends probably are an anomaly in today's culture. Of the ten host couples, each had been married for approximately fifty years, the only exception being the young couple whose marriage was twenty years old. The rest of us were connected by years of shared experiences--rearing our children together, sitting through rain-drenching ballgames, helping and consoling each other through disappointments, rejoicing and supporting each other in victories and achievements, coaching and/or teaching each other's children, carpooling, and so on...
