Waking up this morning brought me back 10 years ago to my own father’s 50^th birthday party. My relatives were already in for our piano recital and my mother had been planning this party for months. Relatives would be flying down but most importantly my dad’s only brother would be arrive from NYC the day of. I remember it was moments before the door to the family room opened. I was wearing a turquoise blue coat and the thoughts passed through my head as I wondered, “I hope he likes this.” And in my efforts to see, I stood on a chair behind the crowd of people and watched the door swing open. Between my dad’s surprised face and the chorus of surprises and his shocked eyes-this was a moment of whimsy. Seconds later, he looked out into the crowd, saw his only brother and began to cry. My favorite moment was in the background of one of the pictures, you can see the crowd of people, my dads face and me standing on a chair-hands clasped together and eyes closed as if I was in prayer.

And I was in prayer-without really realizing it. Today was no different.

I think a party meant for another contains hours of prayer. A prayer when placing the decorations, prayer in food and good company and prayer in old friends. But I think the greatest whimsical encounter is seeing the physical representation of so many years gone by as indicated by my favorite song/lyrics “There are places I remember all my life..though some have changed..”In this hour of prayer, no matter where you are, you are given the chance to really think about how remarkable your years have been. If you blink, those peope and places sometimes move or travel on. Though the people may come an go, the memories are just as sweet as they once were. Because unlike clothes that fade with time, memories of whimsy actually become more vivid with time. Colors brighten as time passes because the meaning becomes richer, more important and more meaningful. Memories become richer with age- because I would like to think that older whimsy is wiser whimsy and there is no greater gift than wisdom.