A Rich Family

A door bell rings and a front door opens. Two little girls run inside an expectant house. Hugs are eagerly sought by the adults and then the girls scatter to find their cousins. They haven't seen them in a while and they are coiled with energy, ready to play.


After a brief hello and getting the visiting dogs settled outside we all traipse off to the local church's Easter Egg hunt. The children are in various age groups and this means the adults also must scatter in order to keep watch over the egg war that ensues. I hear parents coaching children on how to get the most eggs, and on how not to get run over by zealous egg hunters behind them. A whistle blows to start the action and the whole thing is over in less than 5 minutes. From the side lines it reminds someone of a PAC-Man video game but in force. As the children, move over the egg littered grass it is suddenly without color as if the eggs have been beamed up into space. Bags in hands the children bend down on the sidewalk to break open their eggs and sort candy and other small treasures. The parents help and at the same time snitch the good chocolate that we know the kids won't eat anyway- probably.



The eggs, however, are soon forgotten as everyone comes to the house again. A game of chase picks up in the backyard while lunch is prepared. After lunch, an afternoon whittles away with cake decorating, movie watching and in general just visiting.

Mid-afternoon a short adventure ensues as three women stand over a hot oven figuring out how to get a stuck ham out of it. It has plumped up during cooking and is too big slide out the way it went in. Finally, the top is cut off and it can be removed from the oven for its final basting. It is a fairly simple fix but it does give us a laugh.

7 hours after the ham is put in the oven, it comes out again ready to be devoured. The doorbell rings once more and the other side of the family shows up hungry. Eating, eating - more eating. Talking, laughing, and just plain hilarity ensues as the kids eat at their table. The boys showing off for the girls. The girls egging them on with giggles.



After dinner, the adults open facebook and YouTube to share found funnies. Talk moves from jobs, to the economy and politics and then back to Extreme Sheep Herding. (My all time favorite YouTube video.) Chocolate covered Espresso beans are tasted and a divine lemon roll is savored. The egg-shaped cake is also eaten to the delight of the children that methodically pressed M&M's into the frosting earlier that afternoon. Soon, the masterpieces from the kitchen are reduced to crumbs. Stomaches are full.



The above was our Saturday.

I read today about true riches in a person's life, and I thought of Saturday and our family visiting; surrounding us. I thought about the comfortable closeness that comes from knowing people for decades. The gentle teasing that is done in love and jest. It is simply, beautiful.



At the end of our lives, I am sure we look back on what we have done, accomplished and acquired. I want my thoughts to be on what I have experienced and especially on the love I have shared with family and friends. Saturday was a treasure that can not be bought in Saks. It was a treasure of time well spent and fortune found in the relationships that were strengthened.