Party Recap

Arienne and the potato gun
Originally uploaded by suzipaw

It was a lovely graduation party and a satisfying commencement ceremony…it's taken me this long to recover from it all. I've come to the hard realization that I'm just not an entertaining person, much as I desperately want to be one and though there's much about it that I like: I like seeing people that I don't see often anymore, or as often as I'd like--and seeing them with other people I love but that they may not know at all. I like helping friends and family have a good time. And feeding them well. And lately, I like letting other people help me. That's been hard for me to come to terms with, but I'm happier when I don't do it all myself. Mom consulted on the menu and brought lots of wonderful food and flowers. My brother came down early with music and poker chips, so we had extra fun hanging out the evening before. Then he forsook the commencement ceremony so stay at the house and put the tri-tip on the grill, which was the triumph of the party fare. M's sister and another family friend helped with party food prep. M's best friend took a large group of us out to dinner the evening before…I think maybe I always want to be the one go take care of people, but sometimes the best way of doing that is letting go of some things. Including not beating myself up about forgetting to refill the chip bowls ("so that's why the dip wasn't eaten!") or neglecting to lead the party in a toast to the graduate (OK, I still regret that one, frankly) or washing platters instead of making time to talk to my other brother, nephew, brother-in-law (which I still regret even more). One thing I am continuing to enjoy is all of the leftover booze--that in itself is reason to throw more parties. Thank you, everyone, for your contribution to the festivities.

But I'm in my own skin, which means that another hard thing is keeping in mind that the celebration was not about me at all, but about my wonderful husband, who really challenged himself and toiled four long years to get through law school. It really is an amazing accomplishment, and I'm very proud of him. It must be difficult to recognize that with the Bar exam looming, but I hope he can take a deep breath and feel that satisfaction very soon. Like on July 31--that would be a good day.

*****

Happy birthday, Mom!