Mothers and daughters. Tea kettles and candlelight. Grandmothers and granddaughters. Soft music and lace. Aunts and nieces. Tea cookies and pink flowers. Giddy girls of all ages. Chattering. Chuckling. Cherishing sweet moments together. 


What a beautiful evening our girls had last night hosting their tea party!

Sigh. If only every day could be the tea party you thought it would be. You remember. When you were seven, and the view of the world from your bedroom window was wide and wonderful. And Teddy served the most delicious milk and sprinkled cookies on crocheted doilies that your grandmother made. And your dolls beheld you as the princess of the party. And you knew that when you grew up you would smile and sip and love and laugh the days away.


As I was writing this, I looked over my shoulder at my kitchen table today. History and math books scattered on one end. Car keys. A camera case. Cell phone.  A few dinosaurs. And a banana. Aha! Food! That could be a glimmer of  a little girls dream, right?


It appears this morning that I've replaced milk with coffee, and sprinkle cookies with raisin bread.
And you know what?
I take a sip and smile.


Because all those things that are winking at me from my kitchen table...they're the doilies of the wide and wonderful world I grew into.