About a month ago on Monday May 21, my friend Mary put up a post on Facebook with a description of a party where a bunch of friends show up at someone’s house one at a time with the last one bringing the party favors and food, a hobbit party like what the dwarves did to Bilbo Baggins. I called Mary’s sister-in-law and our mutual friend Kat and told her we should do it to Mary. We decided it should be a flower fairy party and made a list of friends who would come. Since it’s during the pandemic we kept the list short, including three other moms whose kids go to school with ours.
Kat invited Mike and I over to her house for dinner to party plan. It was the first time we had visited friends in over a month. It was so needed for our souls that we spent the time enjoying being together and didn’t get back to the party. We did however decide on getting flower crowns for everyone. I ordered them on Amazon, and they arrived two days later.
Then Mary went out of town. Then Kat and Mary had a family retreat. I looked at the calendar and realized that the party had to be this week before my July company came or it might never happen. Stephanie, Tabby and Anne were all on board. I made a pan of baklava and set aside my lacy blue dress. All was ready.
On the day of the event, Anne had a migraine and Kat wasn’t feeling well. I appreciate having friends I can trust to back out of socializing when they aren’t feeling well. In this day of rising coronavirus numbers, it’s important that anyone feeling unwell isolates themselves even if it’s only allergies or a head cold. I regretted not having invited more people, but we wanted to be safe which meant holding a small event outside as directed by officials. I did try calling our friend Ora last minute because she runs with us too.
Kat told me to call Mary’s husband Josiah. He talked to me the morning of the party and promised to keep Mary home and keep it secret.
Wednesday morning, I met with a pysanky teacher who gave me some great pointers. Dying eggs in beautiful patterns and pictures is my newest hobby. I had to learn off of a YouTube video since the ladies from my church who make them are older folks who are very careful not to get Covid. Sharon gave me a lot of pointers that will save me a great amount of trouble in the future. Plus it was fun to work alongside someone. That took all morning and housekeeping took up the afternoon. It was six thirty before I started getting ready. I changed into the blue dress and then saw Eva’s moomoo from the sixties. It’s covered in flowers and there’s never a good chance to wear it. It called to me. The blue dress was left in a watery puddle in my closet.
Stephanie’s daughter Tara and Xenia were scandalized by the shortness of the moomoo and insisted on my wearing shorts underneath which I did for them. Mike gave me a look that meant he thought I looked funny though he didn’t say anything. I didn’t mind. I knew my friends would see me with a little imagination and assured Mike, “It’s for a flower party.” Wearing such a crazy outfit made me feel carefree and fun.
I intended on returning Tara to Stephanie at the party, but Xenia didn’t want to be parted from her best friend. I brought them both. Stephanie beat both Tabby and me to our meeting place, the parking lot of a swimming pool close to Mary’s house. The pool was open, and the parking lot was full. Since it was just the three of us, it was easy to coordinate an alternate meeting place in the elementary school parking lot across the street.
We moved the laundry basket I brought full of lemonade, store bought cookies, and a tray of baklava into Tabby’s car along with a plate of brownies from Stephanie. Tabby’s croissants filled with chocolate and cream cheese weren’t the kind of dessert that would transfer easily. Then I passed out the crowns. The green and yellow one matched Tabby’s dress shirt that she wore with a black, cotton cardigan and jeans. Stephanie let Tara wear the green crown that would have matched her turquoise dress shirt which she wore with a black skirt, but the purple crown looked great too.
The ladies let me go first. I drove the two blocks to Mary’s house and asked my friends to give me a few minutes head start. As I walked up to Mary’s house it occurred to me that we hadn’t discussed my lines. What was I going to say? In these cases, instead of worrying about what words to use, I open my mouth and listen to what comes out.
After I rang the doorbell and knocked Mary answered the door wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Her face lit up when she saw me
“Well hello, Syra.”
“Hey Mary, I’m here for the party.”
“What party?”
“The flower party!”
She looked confused and concerned.
“There’s no party?” I asked.
She hesitated as if being careful not to disappoint me.
“How about we just sit out here and visit for a while.” I asked, “Are you free?”
“Sure.” She said and joined me on the bench outside her front door.
“Was it in a text?” she asked.
“Yes. There was a group chat. I’ll have to look at it and figure it out. How about we make our own flower party. Do you have any flowery clothes?”
“Yes! I have a flower crown. Let’s do it!” I’ll always love Mary for her willingness to make flower party happen for me. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was all for it.
She jumped up and went into her house just as Xenia and Tara ran across her yard.
Mary yelled out to Josiah, “It’s a flower party!”
She ran to her bedroom and found a flower crown she had bought at a renaissance fair. She put on a lovely dress with blue, red, and yellow flowers on a white background and a matching cardigan. In her haste she put on her red ballet slippers without any socks. She danced out of the front door in time to see Stephanie drive up.
“I’m here for the party.” Stephanie said. She carried her one-year-old and his wagon up onto the front lawn.
“How many people are coming?” asked Mary.
I smiled and said, “You’ll just have to wait and see.” I wished it could have been twenty.
Mary had Josiah bring out the tortoise they just purchased which will be the class pet for Xenia’s fourth grade class next year. The poor turtle was so scared, it peed all over the front porch while the children Xenia, Tara, and Mary’s kids all screamed and screeched. Mary tried to figure out how to put the turtle in its harness, but the poor thing was too nervous and the harness too complicated. The tortoise was returned to the peace of its habitat just as Tabby drove up. I sent Tara and Xenia to help her carry the party supplies.
“I’m her for the party.” Tabby said.
Three guests were enough for the effect. We crowded the desserts on the laundry basket which I turned upside down for a table in the shade of a tree. Stephanie’s moist chocolate brownies were my favorite, and Tabby’s dessert was pure delight. My drippy, gooey baklava was a melt in your mouth sensation. Mary brought out plastic cups for the lemonade which we set out in the driveway. Mary’s four-year-old daughter ran into the house and came back wearing a flowered, pink, princess dress and we gave her the sixth flower crown. Stephanie’s little boy ran back and forth with his wagon. Xenia climbed the tree. The kids talked and laughed and ate the treats and the adults mirrored them. Mary looked so happy. Her smile lit up her whole face and she never stopped smiling.
Halfway through she said, “Wait a minute. Was Josiah in on this?”
He looked over from the bench on the front porch and grinned.
“He was.” I said, “Kat told me I had to talk to him if we wanted you to stay at home.”
“That explains so much.” she said.
Mary had tried hard to go to the pool or have Josiah go on a family bike ride. Josiah kept insisting that he wanted to have a family dinner and play games with the kids. Usually he’s glad to have a quiet house in the evenings, but Mary attributed his wanting family time to his hearing some good news earlier in the day. She never suspected a thing even when their UNO game was interrupted by the knock on the door.
After an hour in the sun, I felt the fatigue that overcomes me in the heat. It’s best to end things when everything is going well anyway. Tabby and Stephanie also had to leave to get their kids to bed. Mary told me later that she went to sleep that night grinning and laughing at the memory. She didn’t even mind that her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Most people I know would have hated a party like that. For Mary it was a shower of love.
We are all struggling with the isolation that the pandemic brings to us. We have been having a few play dates here and there with each other in the past few weeks. With the drastic increase of sick people in Tarrant county we may be looking at another government shutdown. It was good to meet together and remember that we are friends and that we love each other. Our friends who weren’t there were missed, but we were thinking of them. The little party was a representation of the whole community we are a part of.
It was also a taste of the parties in our future. I don’t know if I’ll be able to host tea parties in the fall, but there will be ways to bring people together even if they are small ways. There will be chances to show my friends love. Mary assured me that the surprise flower party was magical.
Kat invited Mike and I over to her house for dinner to party plan. It was the first time we had visited friends in over a month. It was so needed for our souls that we spent the time enjoying being together and didn’t get back to the party. We did however decide on getting flower crowns for everyone. I ordered them on Amazon, and they arrived two days later.
Then Mary went out of town. Then Kat and Mary had a family retreat. I looked at the calendar and realized that the party had to be this week before my July company came or it might never happen. Stephanie, Tabby and Anne were all on board. I made a pan of baklava and set aside my lacy blue dress. All was ready.
On the day of the event, Anne had a migraine and Kat wasn’t feeling well. I appreciate having friends I can trust to back out of socializing when they aren’t feeling well. In this day of rising coronavirus numbers, it’s important that anyone feeling unwell isolates themselves even if it’s only allergies or a head cold. I regretted not having invited more people, but we wanted to be safe which meant holding a small event outside as directed by officials. I did try calling our friend Ora last minute because she runs with us too.
Kat told me to call Mary’s husband Josiah. He talked to me the morning of the party and promised to keep Mary home and keep it secret.
Wednesday morning, I met with a pysanky teacher who gave me some great pointers. Dying eggs in beautiful patterns and pictures is my newest hobby. I had to learn off of a YouTube video since the ladies from my church who make them are older folks who are very careful not to get Covid. Sharon gave me a lot of pointers that will save me a great amount of trouble in the future. Plus it was fun to work alongside someone. That took all morning and housekeeping took up the afternoon. It was six thirty before I started getting ready. I changed into the blue dress and then saw Eva’s moomoo from the sixties. It’s covered in flowers and there’s never a good chance to wear it. It called to me. The blue dress was left in a watery puddle in my closet.
Stephanie’s daughter Tara and Xenia were scandalized by the shortness of the moomoo and insisted on my wearing shorts underneath which I did for them. Mike gave me a look that meant he thought I looked funny though he didn’t say anything. I didn’t mind. I knew my friends would see me with a little imagination and assured Mike, “It’s for a flower party.” Wearing such a crazy outfit made me feel carefree and fun.
I intended on returning Tara to Stephanie at the party, but Xenia didn’t want to be parted from her best friend. I brought them both. Stephanie beat both Tabby and me to our meeting place, the parking lot of a swimming pool close to Mary’s house. The pool was open, and the parking lot was full. Since it was just the three of us, it was easy to coordinate an alternate meeting place in the elementary school parking lot across the street.
We moved the laundry basket I brought full of lemonade, store bought cookies, and a tray of baklava into Tabby’s car along with a plate of brownies from Stephanie. Tabby’s croissants filled with chocolate and cream cheese weren’t the kind of dessert that would transfer easily. Then I passed out the crowns. The green and yellow one matched Tabby’s dress shirt that she wore with a black, cotton cardigan and jeans. Stephanie let Tara wear the green crown that would have matched her turquoise dress shirt which she wore with a black skirt, but the purple crown looked great too.
The ladies let me go first. I drove the two blocks to Mary’s house and asked my friends to give me a few minutes head start. As I walked up to Mary’s house it occurred to me that we hadn’t discussed my lines. What was I going to say? In these cases, instead of worrying about what words to use, I open my mouth and listen to what comes out.
After I rang the doorbell and knocked Mary answered the door wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Her face lit up when she saw me
“Well hello, Syra.”
“Hey Mary, I’m here for the party.”
“What party?”
“The flower party!”
She looked confused and concerned.
“There’s no party?” I asked.
She hesitated as if being careful not to disappoint me.
“How about we just sit out here and visit for a while.” I asked, “Are you free?”
“Sure.” She said and joined me on the bench outside her front door.
“Was it in a text?” she asked.
“Yes. There was a group chat. I’ll have to look at it and figure it out. How about we make our own flower party. Do you have any flowery clothes?”
“Yes! I have a flower crown. Let’s do it!” I’ll always love Mary for her willingness to make flower party happen for me. She didn’t know what was going on, but she was all for it.
She jumped up and went into her house just as Xenia and Tara ran across her yard.
Mary yelled out to Josiah, “It’s a flower party!”
She ran to her bedroom and found a flower crown she had bought at a renaissance fair. She put on a lovely dress with blue, red, and yellow flowers on a white background and a matching cardigan. In her haste she put on her red ballet slippers without any socks. She danced out of the front door in time to see Stephanie drive up.
“I’m here for the party.” Stephanie said. She carried her one-year-old and his wagon up onto the front lawn.
“How many people are coming?” asked Mary.
I smiled and said, “You’ll just have to wait and see.” I wished it could have been twenty.
Mary had Josiah bring out the tortoise they just purchased which will be the class pet for Xenia’s fourth grade class next year. The poor turtle was so scared, it peed all over the front porch while the children Xenia, Tara, and Mary’s kids all screamed and screeched. Mary tried to figure out how to put the turtle in its harness, but the poor thing was too nervous and the harness too complicated. The tortoise was returned to the peace of its habitat just as Tabby drove up. I sent Tara and Xenia to help her carry the party supplies.
“I’m her for the party.” Tabby said.
Three guests were enough for the effect. We crowded the desserts on the laundry basket which I turned upside down for a table in the shade of a tree. Stephanie’s moist chocolate brownies were my favorite, and Tabby’s dessert was pure delight. My drippy, gooey baklava was a melt in your mouth sensation. Mary brought out plastic cups for the lemonade which we set out in the driveway. Mary’s four-year-old daughter ran into the house and came back wearing a flowered, pink, princess dress and we gave her the sixth flower crown. Stephanie’s little boy ran back and forth with his wagon. Xenia climbed the tree. The kids talked and laughed and ate the treats and the adults mirrored them. Mary looked so happy. Her smile lit up her whole face and she never stopped smiling.
Halfway through she said, “Wait a minute. Was Josiah in on this?”
He looked over from the bench on the front porch and grinned.
“He was.” I said, “Kat told me I had to talk to him if we wanted you to stay at home.”
“That explains so much.” she said.
Mary had tried hard to go to the pool or have Josiah go on a family bike ride. Josiah kept insisting that he wanted to have a family dinner and play games with the kids. Usually he’s glad to have a quiet house in the evenings, but Mary attributed his wanting family time to his hearing some good news earlier in the day. She never suspected a thing even when their UNO game was interrupted by the knock on the door.
After an hour in the sun, I felt the fatigue that overcomes me in the heat. It’s best to end things when everything is going well anyway. Tabby and Stephanie also had to leave to get their kids to bed. Mary told me later that she went to sleep that night grinning and laughing at the memory. She didn’t even mind that her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. Most people I know would have hated a party like that. For Mary it was a shower of love.
We are all struggling with the isolation that the pandemic brings to us. We have been having a few play dates here and there with each other in the past few weeks. With the drastic increase of sick people in Tarrant county we may be looking at another government shutdown. It was good to meet together and remember that we are friends and that we love each other. Our friends who weren’t there were missed, but we were thinking of them. The little party was a representation of the whole community we are a part of.
It was also a taste of the parties in our future. I don’t know if I’ll be able to host tea parties in the fall, but there will be ways to bring people together even if they are small ways. There will be chances to show my friends love. Mary assured me that the surprise flower party was magical.