Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Epiphany
So we’ve been having the same party every year since 1988. It’s the kind of party where I wear an apron the entire time and have a dish towel slung over my shoulder like I’m busing tables at the Holiday Inn Express. “Are you finished with those waffles? Let me take your plate.”
Our Three Kings celebration started in 1988 when our older son was three years old. His birthday falls on the Epiphany – January 6th. But there’s more to it than that. That son and his brother and later their sister are part of a group of more than thirty children who were adopted from the same orphanage in Nicaragua and grew up in families living in Milwaukee. So every year, we have this party. We have a big potluck, we sing We Three Kings, and we fill the kids’ shoes (whatever ones we have at the moment) with candy and little toys. The party is wild and loud and always ends up with tamale wrappers under the couch.
Last night’s high points included the chilling alert that our that-day-groomed-with-a-bow Bichon, BowWow, had taken it upon himself to pee on the dining room rug in front of a row of spectators, a few of them on their phones but nonetheless, potentially spectating. It was a pee too deep for the rug to absorb, so deep there was a current, waves, perhaps a tide had there been a suitable moon. It was a little sea of pee right below a table overflowing with the signature dishes of a dozen cooks, very near the cheesy rice as I recall.
Anyway, I had to blot it with half a role of paper towels. And then soak a dish towel (not the one on my shoulder, a clean one) in vinegar and warm water and then get down on my hands and knees and scrub the vast spot while, yes, my guests still sat in a row, a few of them on their phones but nonetheless, potentially spectating. It is important to have no pride when a hostess, I told myself. Whatever makes my guests feel more comfortable (and not have the ocean of pee lap up on their shoes), that is what I will do. Then I put a rug on top of the enormous stigmata which BowWow then made his home for the rest of the evening. Did I mention that BowWow was wearing a sweater? A turtleneck.
But then there was this, the original point of our Three Kings celebration. This boy’s birthday. It used to be that he was little and his cake was big, now it’s the other way around. He is big and his cake is tiny. Bless the passage of time.
13 Comments on “Epiphany”
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Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
OH! I’m so envious….. Of it all, a party, the celebration – we don’t do that here, that food, oh that glorious food! We have tiles but it doesn’t stop our Yorkie from peeing all over. A fabulous read!! XXX
Thank you – we miss that dog so much. What a scamp he was!
Hilarious.
Needless to say, Tres Reyes is very big here, too. I meant to have a party but it just sort of crept up on me. Went out to dinner with friends instead. Did you have the cake with the baby Jesus in it to determine who makes or buys the tamales for Candelmas????
Reblogged this on Red's Wrap and commented:
This was our last Three Kings party. All good things must end, right? At least it was eventful. Sort of.
You do know how to throw a party!
Oh my ! So you have disasters too. So human. In our case it was that very young children, not the animals having a big difference of opinion with a very touchy grandparent – wish he would get over himself. Thank you for your down to earth sharing.
Love your story, btw. You made him wear a sweater? No wonder he peed on your parade.
Haha! He’d just gotten shorn at the groomer’s and it was super cold here – 5 degrees.
But still, a dog has his pride. ;o)
No tres reyes cake with little baby Jesuses baked into it? I have one sitting on my table right now. I forgot to take it to the dinner we were having with friends!! They’ll have to cut it and see who provides the tamales for Candelmas without me. I cut a piece to be fair as i’m leaving early tomorrow for the beach. No baby Jesus! I inspected and threw the cake away. It’s not that good, but sure is pretty.
Oh, you make me chuckle! I just love to read your writing!
Thank you!