Maria squeezed the pot with peeled potatoes into the refrigerator, hoping that she had not crushed cut watermelon to mush in their bags. There remained a bunch of miscellaneous tasks to be done before the party the next evening, but the meat was cooked, the potatoes were peeled and the cakes were baked. There would be time to finish before guests arrived.
The question was, which guests would actually show up? She was pretty sure that her grandparents would come since they always managed. But her sisters were so busy with their own lives that she felt that her invitation to come for dinner had actually been an imposition. At least, that was how they had responded. “I don’t know, I’ll have to ask Bob, he might have to work.,” had said the one. “Oh, Ricky would have to stay home alone and he doesn’t like that, but I’ll see if I can slip out,” said the next. “I have to go the doctor’s that day, so I might be tired, but maybe,” said the third. Maria thought these statements might all have meant “Nah, not coming.” At least her oldest sister had been forthright: “We don’t go out at night and we hate driving down there where you live.” It wasn’t that she asked them over particularly often, maybe once a year. And despite how they sounded, they weren’t particularly old. Her grandparents actually were old. They actually had ailments. But they wouldn’t consider not coming to such a special event.
Maria had thought in the past that she should just give up and let her sisters be if her pot roast and her company was not worth it. But, this was a big occasion as her daughter was joining the army and would be gone for months and months. She had asked for her aunts to come and Maria wanted the best for her daughter, even if her sisters would most likely manage to get under her skin if they showed up.
Maria had cajoled her daughter into inviting the friends that meant the most to her. Her daughter wasn’t sure if the aunts would approve of her friends and she didn’t want the occasion to get too big and make too much work for her mother. Maria told her that the aunts could just keep their opinions to themselves since they were guests. Well, she had wanted to tell her that. What she actually said was, “What, are we not good enough for your friends?” and then she had personally made sure that the major players were invited, including Maria’s pot-smoking boyfriend, Ken, her bestie, Carol. Ken would probably turn up reeking of pot and Carol would no doubt drink too much before, during and after dinner. And another friend was downright unpleasant sometimes. But these people were her daughter’s people and they should be there.
It was a good thing, Maria reflected, that they had invited plenty of people. If she had not expanded the guest list, there was a very real risk that no guests would show up. She didn’t think she could handle her emotions if the party fizzled out for lack of attendance. She would not be able to speak to her sisters again. This way, if her sisters didn’t show up (and she was pretty sure they would not), the guests would even be able to crowd around the table for dinner and that would be fabulous. She had peeled enough potatoes for the sisters, though. Just in case.
I daresay we have all gone through something like this! I don't like her negative sisters, though! A lovely olive green colour here to go with the black frame!
