I am an
organizer, a planner, a list maker.
There is a clock or an egg timer, a calendar or a notebook, a dry erase
board or a magnetic clip with note attached, in every room.
When
family comes to visit, a meal magically appears on the table. The house is clean and the lawn is
mowed. Covered dishes warm on the stove
and cold dishes chill in the refrigerator.
Pitchers of ice-cold lemonade and tea wait to fill glasses, and the
coffee pot only needs to be started. The dessert takes center stage on the
kitchen table. We say grace, we sit and eat, we enjoy our time together as a
family.
No one
asks how it all got done.
The week
before, I took inventory, making lists of things that need to be bought or set
out before the company arrives. Every day of the week has its own list and on
the last day the focus shifts into hourly checklists.
Almost as
soon as the first guests arrive, everything falls into place as if by magic and
I sit and enjoy my children and their families. They did not witness all the
work it took to get here, all the pots and pans, bowls and appliances that I
used and washed. It looks like I wiggled my nose and everything came together
on its own.
We say
grace, we sit and eat, we enjoy our time together. Every minute of planning and work is worth
the effort. My family is growing in size and in age and magical moments together
like this are more precious than gold or diamonds.
When it
is time to leave and the last car drives off, leaving only fading echoes of
children’s laughter and grown up chatter, I have no need for a list or a clock
or a pencil. Things will get done, put away, and straightened over the
following week, but first, I will sit, smile, and enjoy the tiny bit of magic I
helped to create.
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