Family Jambalaya

It was not the tea towel, tea sipping, polite bridal shower of yesteryear. Instead it was a grand affair; a monumental meeting of the clans; the mother of all famjams (a regular boozefest), held at my ex-husband's hovel. There were exes, steps, half's and greats; friends, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, and mother-in-laws - ex, present, and future. Simply put - it was a spicy family jambalaya.


Kidlet and Lyndsay schemed for months to make the shower special for their sister. They combed the closets for skeletons and settled on a "who dunnit" game, and a "50 Shades of Harmony" contest that had everyone matching the year with the appropriate Harmony hairstyle. The groom's mom struggled to keep the connections straight... "who is this again?", and I struggled to explain. We finally threw the towel in and just went with the flow. Speaking of which, someone broke into my ex's wine cooler after the sangria ran dry, so needless to say, the mood in the room was jovial; happiness abounded.

It's times like these that I see our family from the outside in: complex but not complicated; blended and extended; diverse and divine; large and loving. It's times like this that remind me how lucky I am to belong to a tribe such as mine. 

Harmony was overwhelmed, surrounded by the women in her life who have helped shape and support her, and she told them so. My baby is a baby no more; and lucky me - what a gem she turned out to be!