A Perfect Day

Originally Written Between 2017-2020                                               

 

The day started out perfectly.  I woke up and felt refreshed!  My hair was perfectly coiffed!  There were no creases on my cheeks.  No puffy eyes!  No morning breath!  My lips were pink.  I was beautiful.

 

In the bathroom, I brushed my teeth.  They were amazingly white – sparkly, actually.  Since my hair was already perfect, I smiled at the mirror and then stepped on the scale.  My weight and the weight listed on my driver’s license matched!  Could the day get any better than that?

 

Well, yes, it could!  I go downstairs and the living room is in perfect order.  No coffee cups or glasses on the end tables.  No newspaper on the floor.  There is a bouquet of flowers in the middle of the coffee table.  Perfection!

 

I walk into the kitchen.  The dishes are done!  The countertops are clear and clean.  The floor is shiny.  

 

I get in the car.  The gas tank is full!  I back out of the garage without hitting anything.  All the stoplights are green.  Life is good!

 

Norm and I decided to celebrate his 80^th birthday by hosting Coffee Hour at our church.  We bought two sheet cakes that would feed 96 people.  Our dear friends, Dan and Gerry, offered to help us get ready for the event.  They not only carried the cakes down the steps for us; but, made the coffee and cut the cake!  Norm and I busied ourselves by setting up the paper plates, napkins, cups, tea bags, apple juice, etc.  The room was filled with all our friends and they sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

 

Our daughter, Rebecca, brought her two sons, Dean (age 14) and Timmy (age 11) and our other grandson, Johan (our son John’s son, age 10)  with her to help out during Coffee Hour.  She replenished the coffee and manned the cake supply so Norm and I could mingle among our friends.  The love and friendship our friends and Rebecca showed us made the day even more perfect!

 

After church, Norm and I go out for breakfast with Dan and Gerry.  They buy our breakfast for a birthday present.  As usual, when we arrived home, Norm heads straight to the bathroom.  And this is when the perfect day becomes even more perfect!

 

Norm already knew that we would celebrate his birthday with the family joining us at Golden Corral Buffet.  We chose a buffet so everyone could just grab whatever food they like and we wouldn’t have to wait for our food if we had ordered at a regular restaurant. Rebecca, Tony, and their boys arrived the night before.  So, all we had to do was wait for Michael and Sally and John and his family to arrive.

 

Norm left the bathroom and settled in his chair in the den to watch the Vikings game.  What he didn’t know was that Michael and Sally had gone to the airport and picked up our son, David, and his wife Elyse who flew in from Reno, Nevada to surprise Norm.

 

And was he surprised!  I told Norm that Michael and Sally had arrived while he was in the bathroom and asked him to leave the den to join us in the living room.  He then saw David and Elyse sitting on the couch.  I loved the look on this face!  

 

Our whole family settled in and made Norm’s birthday the best ever.  A perfect day!

 

But….. the day wasn’t finished!  For me, anyway.  I left the celebration at 6:00pm to attend my Messiah concert rehearsal.  I so enjoy the rehearsals.  We work very hard on each chorus and every year I learn something new.  Our conductor pushes us to actually read the words we are singing.  In that way, we can sound “sad” when it’s a sad time and “happy” when we are celebrating the birth of Jesus.

 

And so, I drove home from rehearsal singing the Hallelujah Chorus – at the top of my lungs!  A perfect ending to a perfect day.