Counting Blessings.

An evening party full of disruption. For the Writer's Cramp contest.

    I had the word dancing at the tip of my tongue, almost to the point of revealing itself before the egg timer had poured the last grains of its timing sand, when the doorbell rang.

“You have got to be kidding!” I laughed nervously, the answer disappearing in the ensuing commotion as my niece charged from the bathroom. She wore tight denim shorts with a heavy sweatshirt, and had a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth.

“I’ll get it” she mumbled through half closed lips as she bounced across the living-room, maneuvering quite spectacularly around the maze of chairs that were occupied by my guests.

    We had been trying to play ‘Cranium’ for the past hour. This was the fourth interruption during that time. The first was my eighteen year old niece arriving, wanting to borrow the shower, this was followed by three phone calls and one person at the door looking for her. That was Kelly, who was now sitting watching our game, noisily popping her chewing gum, and listening to a CD on what seemed like a very outdated portable player. The earphones were doing a lousy job of keeping the rowdy music from invading the room. 

    This was my first attempt at hosting a party for co-workers since the start of my new job two years ago. Oh, I had been to a few staff functions. These had turned out to be well organized and peaceful events. I was a little nervous in agreeing to take my turn, knowing that my home could sometimes, actually a lot of the time, become busy and chaotic in a very short span of time – given the open door policy that I held!  I had been sure to announce my planned event to various family members, anyone who I thought might pop-in unannounced. I had forgotten about my niece though. She had a good reason for the shower: the water tank in her new apartment had burst, leaving her with no water. She had an important date to go on! How could I refuse? 

    I literally held my breath as she moved closer to the front door, hoping this interruption would be minor. Rounding the last chair, her foot caught on the disarray of shoes and she fell heavily against the door. With a mild curse, and apology quickly spoken, she pulled the door open to reveal my boss and his wife. 

“It’s for you.” She announced the obvious and waltzed back through the room as I jumped up, red faced, to welcome the newest guests. 

    Eventually, my niece and her friend were on their way. They cheerfully interacted with the group while putting on shoes and coats, and finally the door closed behind them. By this time, the game had been abandoned and everyone appeared to be having a good time.  It seemed that I was the only one put out by the commotion.  A co-worker looked at me from across the room.

“What a great thing to have family living so close, knowing they can come to you if needed” She exclaimed, and at that point the word finally rolled off my tongue, too late for the game, but with new meaning: 'Treasures'. I realized that my life was full of them.