Episode 2: One More is a Party

We were tired.  Odd schedules. Strange classes. COVID. Masks. Distancing. All of it.

Before Emma went back to school—freshman year!—we all retreated to the lake. 

I’ve always said it: Emma is my party girl.  Playing music too loud, laughing with friends, dancing.  She’ll take it, as much as she can. 

Even when she was a child, a party was life changing. For her fourth birthday party, after eating too much cake and receiving her very own tiara and plastic jewelry and (I think) even frilly clothes, Emma’s opinion of me changed like a toggle switch.  Before that party, she didn’t really like me. After, though, we bonded.  And we haven’t stopped.

The lake helped us shake off some of the COVID exhaustion.  At the lake, we try our best to have an open house.

It was a family affair, with Uncle Luke, Aunt Faith, Nana, Papaw, the kids, cousins, and even babies showing up.  Our lake time included people that we hadn’t seen in awhile (Melissa!) or we hadn’t ever seen (Jason!), but one person new to the bunch was Trinity.  She’s Jonah’s girlfriend, but for the life of me I can’t remember a time when she wasn’t Emma’s sister. We’ve only known her for about as long as summer break lasted.  But when we finally met her in person, Emma and Trinity were already fast friends, thanks to FaceTime and texting. 

Of course, Trinity enjoyed lake time with us, too.  Swimming off the dock, taking Emma on rides on our borrowed Sea-doo, nosing around the kitchen for something to eat, snuggling up on the couch at night to watch Peanut Butter Falcon for the thousandth time:  it’s just what we all end up doing.  And she fit right in.

A few days later, though, Trinity found herself needing a little more than just a handful of days at the lake.

One night, (too late for me to even remember) Trinity trudged up our front steps and she opened our front door. She seeped into our living room. Plastic garbage bags full of her clothes were flung over her shoulder.She looked like an exhausted Santa Claus.We greeted her with hugs and dinner and the saddest office-turned-bedroom you can imagine.She looked at the newly inflated blow-up mattress with the adoration that having few options creates.She was exhausted, so she collapsed into fresh sheets, hand-me-down bedding, and a single pillow.