Two Very Different Evenings…All In The Same Night

I started the evening at the Fall Carnival at my son’s elementary school. It was loud and crowded and chaotic. The children ran from room to room to participate in activities and get small prizes for their trick or treat bags. The grownups held the coats, umbrellas and the left over cotton candy.

My son took great pride in being the tour guide for our family while I took pride in walking with him through the same halls that were my elementary school. Of course, the carnival raises money for the school, but it’s also an “event”. The planning goes on for months; families make a night of it; and it is a huge undertaking. It raises spirits and expectations and it brings us together. We didn’t walk more than a few feet without seeing people we knew. It was loud and crowded and chaotic and it was also important. Important in ways that quiet and uncrowded and calm can never be.

I ended the evening at a local restaurant with 5 of my girlfriends. It was quiet and uncrowded and calm. Our husbands and children were taken care of for the evening and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner of talking and laughing and being together. We didn’t solve the world’s problems. In fact, we didn’t even talk about them. Instead, we told stories and found out things we didn’t know about each other. It raised our spirits and it brought us together. I have good friends and being with them made me thankful for them anew. It was quiet and uncrowded and calm and it was important. Important in ways that loud and crowded and chaotic can never be.

Copyright, RPL Communications, 2006