You know that saying ‘it takes a village’? Well, it does. For any endeavour worth remembering, it takes collaboration. Varied viewpoints, multiple hands, and a LOT of coordination. Witness my niece’s shower.

While I reap the accolades of my niece’s showers, it could never have happened w/out the help of my 3 sisters and a couple of their best friends — what we call ‘sisters-of-the-heart.’ All showed up a day before the shower and swept floors, tidied, and then the day OF the shower made cucumber sandwiches, spread egg salad, cut circles out of bread FOR the sandwiches, and generally did whatever needed to be done, as I made tea, and generally acted like my father the colonel. 🙂

Who do you rely on in your life? Who is always there for you? As I mentioned, not always are the people who have your back your ‘blood’ family. But they’re no less your chosen folks. In my case? I’m lucky that my best friends include my sisters (and their sisters! 🙂 ). My friends are doers, makers, creators, and worker bees. Not a drone among them — the men work every bit as hard in this un-bee-like ecosystem.

And as you can see, it was a BIG shower for my niece (seated in the heart of her friends & family!). This doesn’t even include those who left early — one sister to attend a funeral, a sister-of-the-heart because she wasn’t feeling well, and others who had to work. This is just ‘most’ of my niece’s maternal aunts & cousins.

Making something like this happen — from the initial lists of invitees to the final sack of tissue Liz took out to the trash as she left — everyone pitched in. They bussed end tables, served as Shower Stork (handing out the many presents), loaded the dishwasher and generally lent their hands.

There’s only one catch to this incredible team work: sometimes, you have to ask folks. You have to be able to reach out. And no, this isn’t always easy. But as I move along my beginner’s path, I’m learning this: my friends & family mind my asking no more than I mind when they need my support. When one sister calls to talk about her classes, or another wants to talk over what to buy for a shower gift, or another needs me to print something at the last minute? I’m there. As they are for me.

So don’t forget: you really aren’t alone. You have all the people who love you, ready & waiting for you to turn to them. And don’t we all get by better w/ a little help from our friends?