Friendship, Fun and Games ...

The joys of the celebration continued as people surrounded the birthday girl with smiles and conversation and cake!! Slices of delicious cheese cakes in a variety of flavors …. and … a carrot cake!

And then, as dusk was befalling around us, with our bellies full of Papa's Pulled Pork (spicy or sweet) ... coleslaw, pickles, sushi, baked brie with garlic, and a number of other delectable contributions generously contributed by the partiers ... we were divided up into two teams and played a raucous round of cups! Team One took the win. However, when it came to the egg transfer game ... Team two took top prize! Well ... until it was requested that we play another round. And then, Team One took charge and handily beat Team two.

Regardless of the outcome of the games, it was really so much fun for adults and kids alike! There just seems to be something joyful within us humans that gets activated by playing games. Laughter seems to spill out spontaneously whenever people are playing games.

And then, when it was dark enough, we played the video of pictures honoring the birthday girl that was lovingly created by Auntie Sharon. It was beautiful to revisit the moments of my eldest daughter's 40 years!! And it was equally delightful to enjoy the pictures her friends had submitted of times they had shared together over the years. As I shared in a Facebook post:

"I had the ultimate honor of sharing some precious time during the 40th birthday celebrations of my daughter (Tiana) with the impeccable 'tribe' of friends she has held so very dear over the last quarter of a century. I won't name you here but you know who you are!! The depth of their connection was not lost on me. It is rare … and … oh so precious.
The following reminded me of how lucky those of us are to have these cherished and REAL friendships. I am so grateful to honor some of my treasured friends with such immeasurable regard. And, yes, I won't name you here either … but … you know who you are! 🙌

My comments were inspired by the following sentiments written by Wonderoak by Jess Johnston :
"The highest honor of friendship isn't getting invited to "that party" or out on a girls weekend. It's not clinking champagne glasses at fancy brunches or wearing matching shirts on a beach in Florida. That all is nice and fun and good and special, but it's not what it's about, not at all.
The real honor of friendship is being invited into someone's REAL. It's getting an invitation into the nitty gritty, the not-so-pretty, the hard stuff, the vulnerable stuff, the weird stuff, the unpolished stuff. It's being welcomed into a home where the sink is full of dishes and the laundry is covering the couch. It's entering the places of heart ache and pain. It's being invited to the hospital room when your friend is still in her mesh underwear from birth. It's sitting crosslegged in old sweats on the floor and laughing till you cry. It's carrying around secrets that you've been trusted to keep. It's listening and hearing. It's holding space for each other. It's answering phone calls just to talk something through.
The highest honor of friendship isn't found in beautifully planned events or brightly filtered photos.
The highest honor of friendship is messy and dingy and real. It's in unfiltered photos of laughing so hard your double chin is showing. It's loving each other's babies and holding each other while you ugly cry.
I can't stress this enough:
If you've been invited into even one person's real, you are blessed.
Cherish it."
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And so ... maybe one of the best parts of celebrating the people we love is getting REAL. And, as I write this I am both humbled and honored by all the real moments, real emotions, real love and real commitment that was part of these amazing celebrations. 💝💖Read more