I Missed my Father-in-law’s Eightieth Birthday Party

My husband and my son have been out of town for the past week. It was my father-in-law’s eightieth birthday party last Saturday. His actual birthday is on the eleventh (the same day as my brother’s), but they wanted to have a big party for him, so they planned the party for Saturday the twentieth.

I feel so badly about missing that party. I love my father-in-law a lot. He has always been there for me, and I’ve appreciated his support throughout the years. I’ve always felt a special kinship with him too. It’s not a problem when he comes to visit, in fact, we enjoy it. But that’s only one of the reasons I feel disappointed for missing his party.

Last summer was the time the party was mentioned for the first time. This was to be a summer of graduations and special birthday parties – but my father-in-law’s eightieth was spoken about as far back as a year ago at my niece’s wedding. Back then; there had been a lot of talk among my husband’s family members about the best date for the party. A few dates were tossed around, but in the end, they chose the date that would fit best for my schedule. After all, we were the ones traveling from farthest away, and the school calendar was predictable, or so I thought.

So last August, I said I thought any date before the twenty-fifth would probably work for me. Everyone settled on the twentieth. It was a Friday, but we all didn’t think my first day back to school would be that early in the summer. As it turned out, the first day back to school for teachers was… wait for it: the twentieth. It could have been an omen. Here we thought we had selected a great date, and it was almost the worst day possible. After a LOT of deliberation, we all came together and changed the date to Saturday, August 21st  – just so I could attend.

Then on my first day of vacation the dog attack happened. Unbelievable. This time my immediate family deliberated, and we decided that my daughter and I would not go to the party as planned. After all of our juggling, it was simply too much for me. Not just the travel aspect, but the social aspect too. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around talking to everyone without tears and downer conversation. Not to mention, Hardy wouldn’t be there. Everyone understood, but it still stung.

My husband and my son wrote me every day while they were away, and we spoke on the telephone numerous times. It sounded like a great trip, complete with a lovely excursion to Lake Chelan – a place I’ve always wanted to visit. I feel like I really missed out on this one. Not that I would have been much fun, but this was my father-in-law’s eightieth birthday party. How do you get that time back?