Heart Warming House Warming

Saint Brigid said
"All are welcome."
And with raised glass
I salud-ed her vision:
Heaven as a lake of beer
And every drop a prayer.

May be no lake here
But a washtub will do
As friends-now-family
Gathered to warm
And bless
My house-now-home.

Bread twist table legs
Didn't buckle beneath
The load.
But grandmother would be proud of
The breadth of the spread
(And appalled at the price
of the caterer's delights.)

Early arrivals were
Right on time
And exclaimed in
All the right places.

Patio perfected plants,
Warm walls as
Backdrops to
Art deemed very me
Shelves of memories
From trips real and imagined
Knooks
Books
Pauses to look
And ask the questions
Day to day doesn't always allow
The time for.

More corners to explore
More color to experience
More guests arriving.

The Southern-charmed chaplain
A tri-color hairdresser turning student
who often teaches me of life uncharted
A chain-smoking 70 year old former PE instructor
who knows no strangers
"Family" who greeted and grabbed . . . the trash when needed.

One pastor brought wine
Another deemed the gay actor among the evening's most intriguing conversations
The fundamentalist girlfriend stayed longer than expected and laughed
Tri-lingual traveler amused and amazed.
A stranger somehow connected and reported outcomes of cancer treatment that day

One pause for a Brigid reminder
One to end with prayer
Complete . . . and then not quite
As best friend/brother asked to add his comments to Creator

I held the hand of the stranger
Appropriate I think
Since he, wide-eyed and appreciative,
declared the night so very "positive."

Hugs and kisses
Sent most on their way
A remnant retired to the pool.
We quietly absorbed
The laughter of children
And offered up play-by-play of the day.

Seven hours in
(3 past official final call)
I closed the door
And smiled.

Brigid be glad.
All are welcome here.