The Reception

Sarah got up at 7:30 and I followed her at 8:00. Today was the big reception and there was stuff to do. Sarah made her famous salsa and I did a few jobs here and there as they ordered me. We got it all done and were sitting on the back porch when the first of the early worms arrived.
Sidebar: Let me just tell you that I love being here in the country again after 3 years of living in the city. It’s so quiet. All you hear is the birds and the bullfrogs. It’s really peaceful. I love the city but I miss being able to escape to the country. To top it all off it was a beautiful day. Meanwhile, we heard that it was snowing in Seattle. Needless to say, we were glad to be in Florida.
Okay, back to the reception. Well, what can I say? It was an amazing day! So many people came it was really overwhelming. I’d say there was probably around 80 or more folks who came thru. And they all stayed for pretty lengthy visits. The reception may have been staged for me and Sarah but it turned into a real reunion for a lot of the old guard from the church I grew up at. There was also a great many relatives who dropped by. It was so good to see everyone and everybody had a great time! My friend Beth remarked that the church has gotten so big and so many of the older folks have passed away that it’s just not the same. The only time they get to see everybody is at funerals. She remarked that it was so good to be able to fellowship without it being because someone died.
Sarah was, of course, a big hit. I had more than enough people tell me how lucky I am. I wonder if anyone told her that she was the lucky one? Probably not. It was almost impossible to visit with everyone but most folks just found a pocket of friends and caught up. The back porch and yard were full of people. I can’t describe it. It was just a great day. We hope that we can catch up with some of my close friends later in the week. That would be really awesome. I hope we can fit it all in.
Tonight we are all exhausted. My mom did an incredible job putting this thing together. She is so happy that we’re here. And I’ll tell you the truth. It’s good to be home. I haven’t been here in 3 years. It’s been even longer than that since I’ve seen a good many of these folks. Several years ago I just sort of stopped visiting my old church. I can’t explain what I was going thru but I think it was a way for me to put that all behind me so I could become my own person. At first, I was nervous about the idea of a reception for all the home crew. I wondered if folks would just not show up or have forgotten about me. I pretty much found out today that I’ve got some good old friends here in the Pensacola area. It was a good day.

In the picture above: Sister Cindy and bro-in-law Brian, Mom and Dad, Me and Sarah.