Celebration

NOTE:  Several antique baby dresses and other items will be posted for sale Wednesday morning. 

“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.” Leviticus 19:32

All set up and waiting for the 11:00 service to be over (faces obscured because I for got to ask permission to post).  Gold  table toppers and table numbers were left over from our daughter’s wedding.

Today at our church there was a gala luncheon celebration for members of our congregation who are over 90 years old.  Sponsored by the deacons, this was an especially lovely event!  Twenty-two of the 46 eligible members were in attendance with their family and friends as guests. Almost 125 dinners were served.

Bob and I were both busy serving, so this is the only photo that we took.   After our church photographer posts photos, I will include more.  Fellowship Hall really did look very festive.  The theme was “fall,” though I thought for an event with so many elderly guests, “Don’t fall” would have been a better choice.

As each honoree entered Fellowship Hall, a boutonniere or corsage was pinned on and a photo taken.

The lady on the left, above, decided the honorees should have a goody bag as a sort of party favor.  On her own and with the help of her 11 yo granddaughter, she filled gaily wrapped bags with a word search booklet, a Bible scripture bookmark, a picture frame for the photo that was taken today, some hard candy, and a daily devotional booklet.  Each honoree was also give a souvenir booklet with a bio of each of the over 90 members.

I was in charge of decorations and was pleased to be able to reuse many things made for our daughter’s wedding and– much to my dear husband’s dismay– still stored in our garage.   Twenty gold table toppers, some sheer and some tapestry weight, were placed over the green cloths and the embroidered table numbers were once again put into use.

at Rebecca’s wedding— same tapestry table cloth, same gold chargers, same embroidered table numbers, same linen napkins

When the table numbers were made, I knew it was a lot of time spent on a small detail, but Rebecca and I both liked the idea.  Since the wedding, these same numbers were used for four Mother’s Day teas at the church of my daughter’s mother-in-law and then for the wedding of a sweet family friend.  And in the next year, they will be used again for the wedding of another family friend.  So the numbers have been put to good use.

At today’s luncheon, the gold chargers were used only at the honorees’ seat.  Some of my best monogrammed linen dinner napkins were also used only for the honorees.  We joked about how the monograms could be conversation  starters.  “What do you think this stands for?”   “MEY” for My Excellent Youth or My Energetic Youth or even My Entertaining Youth, though one jokester quietly suggested My Expired Youth),

and “ABS” for All Blessed Souls or Another Big Sunday.  All the hand embroidered “B” –for Bible or Blessed—monograms are still in the washer so I didn’t scan them.  The monogram guessing game did add to the fun.

ABS monogram

These napkins are a generous 26″ square.  Did you know that in earlier times, guests of greatest esteem were given the largest napkins, some as large as 36″ square?  That’s almost a tablecloth!  This link will take you to an interesting article about the history and current size recommendations for napkins.

During dinner, an on-going slide show featured photos of the honorees, often including some taken many years ago when these elderly guests were more active in church events.

Because many honorees came in wheelchairs, I quickly removed the chair at their place.  As I carried a chair away, honoree Bob, a delightful, very active 92 year old elder of the church, jumped up and insisted on carrying the chair for me.  As I tried to refuse, he declared that he was an old fashioned fellow and wouldn’t sit by while a lady hauled anything he deemed heavy.

That led me into conversation with him about my dear, spry almost 94 year old Uncle Richard.  Recently Aunt Rheeta phoned him and was told that he had just come in from mowing the lawn (this is in central Florida, 90+ degrees).  He said he was having a beer and  then he was going out to mow the lawn next door, the former home of his 65 year old bride.  When Aunt Rheeta commented that perhaps his bride could mow her own lawn, he declared, “Oh no!  I wouldn’t let her go out in this heat!”  Bob loved this story.  He and Uncle Richard could be good friends.

I do hope I have some of his genes and those of his sister,  Aunt Rheeta.

Today I was reminded yet again of the scripture painted above a mural at the nursing home of my beloved, late Aunt Aileen.

“Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God.” Leviticus 19:32