December 20, 2021. Ancaster, Ontario. A Tea Party.

The table looked beautiful, set with fancy china and silver. A large tray of sweets was at one end of the table and a tray of freshly baked cranberry bread, home made by Wendy, was at the other end of the table. Canadians know how to serve a fancy tea. Once again, the table was full of Family members, all to celebrate Irene's birthday. She turned 88 today. Ten of us sat at the table drinking tea from our fancy cups, eating our delicious sweet goods. We looked like proper ladies and gentlemen. The whole affair was elegant and delightful. The most important part of the tea party was that Irene was pleased. She is always an attentive hostess but today she allowed other folks to look after her. Anne and Wendy looked after everything and Irene allowed everyone to serve her, which was not normal. Irene is always waiting on the rest of us, which we appreciated. But we were all happy to see that Irene, for once, was not in charge of pouring tea or passing the goodies. Today she was the birthday girl. And I think she enjoyed it.