Ruth

Lately, I’ve been having this recurrent dream. We’re giving this perfect party. We have our dining room back, and Grandmother’s silver, before it was stolen, and Charlie’s mother’s royal blue dinner plates, before the movers dropped them, and even the finger bowls if I knew where they were.

And I’ve invited all of our favorite people. Oh I don’t mean just our old friends. I mean everyone we’ve ever known and liked. We’d have the man who fixes our Toyota, and that intelligent young couple who bought the Payton house, and the receptionist at the doctor’s office, and the new teller at the bank.

And our children would be invited, too. And they’d all come back from wherever they are. And we’d have two cocktails, and hot hors d’oeuvres, an a first-rate cook in the kitchen and two maids to server, and everyone would get along famously!

My husband laughs when I tell him this dream. “Do you realize,” he says, “what a party like that would cost? Do you realize what we’d have to pay these days fora a party like that?” Well, I know. I know all that. But sometimes I think that it might almost be worth it.

I feel like I’ve reached the end of an epoch.

I finally got to meet the man and legend ehowton and most of his friends. Some of the people I met I felt like I knew a lifetime. Some were only rumors of human beings that I can now say are not aberrations but in fact real. Others, I had no point of reference. But everyone I met on this trip was touched with Greatness. I want that Greatness. Despinte our differences, we all had a wonderful time. This was nota party to have missed, no matter what the excuse. While we are each celebrities in our own right, none of us have a household name.

I have seen the land where dreams come true and it wasn’t California.

Our religious beliefs may be quite different and yet the same but we all strive for the same thing: success via the Pursuit of Happiness. As I sat there in the airport attempting to scrawl these words, I knew what I want and what will happen. I want to move to an area and company where I am constantly challenged by new problems to which I must come up with new solutions. I want to work for a company who respects me for who I am and gives me the tools to research and test solutions to our problems. I want to be surrounded by successful, great people. I want to constantly be around friends like those I were around this weekend–supportive intelligent, giving loving sharing people.

I have many people to thank for making my dream come true, drax0r and jesskd26 for putting me up and up with me; for ehowton and catttitude for allowing me to come enjoy myself, photogoot for his graciousness, texas_tangent and her husband Richard for their hospitality and celtmanx for the condoms.

photogoot was right: this did/does rival the actual Christmas holiday.

I don’t deserve freinds like you.