Lauren's Shower

Sometimes time passes and we are caught unaware.  I mean, for most of us, just going through the motions of getting through every day allows us to maintain the illusion that time isn't clipping by at the pace that it actually is.  Oh, we know time marches on as we celebrate our birthdays...see children grow...grieve those who are no longer with us...but it seems to be mostly head knowledge as opposed to heart knowledge. 

And then at some point we realize that time is indeed moving on.  Girls that we remember wearing with bows in their hair are now college juniors.  We think of ourselves as "us" and the girls as "them"...when they are becoming more "us" every day.  We're sliding up a generation.  We're looking at being the "mother of the bride" or "mother of the groom" instead of simply a "mother." 

Gee, I don't feel old enough to be a mother of the bride...but I suppose I am.  Not that Jill is getting married...but some of her friends are.  One of my "other daughters," Lauren, had a kitchen shower today.  Jill is in the wedding...her first time as a bridesmaid.  We're all excited because Lauren is marrying the older brother of one of the girls in their class...and she's the first to be making the "walk to remember" in their grade.  She won't be the last, though.  Two other girls in their class at the shower were sporting engagement rings.

And one other attendee (also their age) is getting married in two weeks.  Wow.  Just wow.

Anyway, today's shower was a lot of fun.  Like all southern showers, there was a lovely table set with all kinds of goodies on it.  I was particularly fired up about the cake (like this is a surprise to those who know me...) because it was pretty fabulous.

Cute, yes?  I loved the fun and whimsical look of it with her future monogram in the middle.  When it was cut, we found that the top layer was strawberry and the bottom layer was white cake.  This totally rocked, by the way.



Here's a shot of the whole table.  Obviously this is a "before" picture.

 I watched the girls come in enjoy just hanging out together.  Many of the guests (I think I counted 13) graduated and/or attended together as the Class of 2008 at the same high school.  There were other guests there...including one of the other bridesmaids who hosted the party with her mother, some girls from Lauren's church, family members (her mother, grandmother, and sister and future mother-in-law) and other guests who made the event a lot of fun for her.

However, I just couldn't get past seeing the girls that I know so well just honestly enjoying spending time together.  Here are some of the photos I took...

Lauren with Donica...Donica is singing in a band now...and they are performing at Brian's Senior Prom! 

Lauren with Peyton...



Mary Cam with Lauren. She gave her a really cool cupcake pan that makes them in squares instead of circles.  I'm thinking that I need to go locate one of these.



Here's Ellen, Elizabeth and Jill with me taking the photo without my zoom on.  My bad.



Here's a fun group shot...

Lauren, Ellen, Elizabeth, Jill, and Laura...so pretty!

Ellen, Jill, Lauren, Kara and Allison.  Gorgeous, aren't they? 

It was a lovely experience getting to see the girls again.  Some of them I have not laid eyes on since graduation three years ago.  But they are special to me.  They are the faces that were in the photos as Jill grew up...the girls with which she attended class, dances, birthday parties, and Prom.  Some of them I have known since they were six or seven years old...and others I got to know as they ended up in her class or arrived at Trinity later on.  Little do they know how often that they have been in my prayers or how much I value the fact that they are the girls of my daughter's childhood years.

I was amazed at how awesome each of them has turned out to be.  I didn't doubt it at the time...but believing it and actually seeing it really are not the same thing.  Some of them are chasing their dreams, some have found their significant other, and a few remain pretty clueless as they are just waiting to see what life is going to bring.  All of them are pursuing a college degree...and each of them is becoming more confident with who she is and what she has to offer the world. 

Today there were no cliques, no awkwardness, and they had plenty to say to each other.  The occasion to honor Lauren's upcoming wedding was also an opportunity to get together with girls that they have not seen for awhile...except possibly in passing.  I honestly don't think that they even realized that they have missed each other...until now.

I've missed them, though.  A lot.

I thought that Lauren's party today was lovely...and I find it so difficult to believe that she is going to be married in just a little over a month.  Time flies, though, and it won't be long before the others will likely follow suit.  I hope that I'll be invited to share their joy at those points in time...because I assure you that I'd be honored to do so.

Just as I was honored to be among these wonderful girls today.