our mom made us cry or guess who's coming to dinner?

TRUE STORY:

one sunday morning when i was about 5 years old and my sister, loni, was 8, my mother came into our bedroom and woke us up with some exciting news: somebody IMPORTANT was coming to sunday dinner!

we were immediately hooked--who was it? we asked. was it somebody we knew? or was it somebody we always wanted to know? my mother just smiled and said that it would be a surprise, but that we had a lot of getting ready to do for our v.i.p. guest. she was preparing a very special meal and we got to attend!

my mom told us to get dressed in our sunday best and make sure that our shoes were shined and that our teeth were brushed (a stretch in those days--yikes.) and that we had our room cleaned and bed made.

when we were done she had us come into the kitchen and get out our best china and our REAL silverware--you remember that kind, don't you? the set that was in the fancy box lined with velvet. the kind you had to wash by hand because you couldn't put it in the dishwasher, thus creating the ILLUSION that it was even that much more special than the lowly everyday

silverware? yup, we brought them out, along with our crystal goblets and a centerpiece for the middle of the table fashioned from paper and glue and lots and lots of love, desperation and anticipation.

mom announced at 9:00 a.m. that our v.i.p. guest was supposed to arrive at 12:00 noon. by 11:00 a.m. we were sitting on top of the couch facing the big front window, watching in anticipation--who could it be? by this point we had narrowed it down to just two likely candidates (and this is no lie): jimmy carter, the president of the united states, or spencer w kimball, the president of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. we were convinced that a motorcade was about to descend upon our tiny rogers circle home complete with limos bedecked with flags. and ticker tape.

i remember my mom trying to calm us down as our neighbor, cherrie wittwer, came to our door to borrow something--when we told her that jimmy carter was coming for lunch i remember that she looked quizzically at my mother and then they moved off into the kitchen to speak in hushed voices.

by the time the clock reached 12:10 p.m. we were worried that perhaps their cars had taken a wrong turn? my mom told us that we should go in and sit at the table and get ready. we could hardly tear ourselves away from the window, fearful we would miss the procession, but mom insisted.

we sat down at the table and noticed that mom had her big easel out next to the table with posters on it. she turned to us and told us that, indeed, somebody VERY IMPORTANT was at the dinner table today. somebody who was more important to her and dad than anyone (and you can see where this is going)  and then she flipped over the poster board with a flourish and it read: "that somebody important is YOU!!!"

WE WERE THE V.I.P.??? loni and i sat there in stunned silence. we looked from our dad. to our mom. back to our dad again, who was laughing and that is when the tears came. we cried and cried and CRIED, while my dad and mom laughed and laughed and tried to comfort us. my mother explained that we were such an important part of our family that we were always considered "v.i.p.'s".....we we pretty sure that we weren't buying it.

this story has been lovingly told and retold in our family's history. it made an impression and it was a lesson we didn't forget--we WERE the important guests at my parent's dinner table, and we were (eventually) grateful for it.

even if it meant that we didn't get to dine with jimmy.

but if you knew how i feel about my parents then you'll know that dining with my parents was WAY better.  truly.