Attending A Party...Where No One Was Invited

Last April our only daughter turned eighteen. Two months later she graduated. We thought it was high time for a get-together to celebrate. Unfortunately, because of the craziness of life, the party never took place.

But, in a way, it did.

Weeks ago we decided on a Saturday evening and decided on the location, Woodland Park in central Farmington. It a beautiful place and in the spring there's a small creek that flows through the middle of it. We booked the park terrance and waited. In between the booking and last Saturday night, we sort of didn't invite anyone to come, nor did we plan any activities.

It's not because we don't love our daughter, mind you. Quite the opposite. It's just that life got so crazy the last couple of weeks, the party never materialized. My wife's parents had health issues, we got a puppy, then my wife had health issues, and what probably had the biggest impact, my daughter's schedule. She is working full-time, just weeks from graduating high school (or our homeschool version of it...). And she's in a play that requires three to four hour rehearsals several times a week. It's a lot for a newly free teenager.

I'm sure had she told us what we wanted to do and invited friends and family, the party would have taken place and it would have been fun--we'd have made it work somehow. But it didn't.

Saturday night we drove down to the park to make sure the terrace was clean. If someone had used it and left it dirty and full of trash, we wouldn't get back our deposit. We decided to take the new puppy with us. We got there around 9pm, just as the sun was setting. My four kids, my oldest son's girlfriend and the dog had the place all to ourselves. From somewhere a cool breeze blew from the east and through the park. Because it had been such a hot day--well into the 100s--the breeze felt heavenly.

I saw and watched the kids play with the dog and chat on the outdoor stage as the light faded and it came time to go. No,  we didn't have the kind of party newly graduated high school seniors and recently turned eighteen-year olds have, but I loved it. It was special.