A New Chapter

My boss retired in May, and we threw her a party.  It was quite the event.  Our team went to work to plan a great send off.  And it was.  We titled it "A New Chapter".  It seemed to fit the spirit of her plans from then on - to close off one part of her life, and open up a new one.

We met many times as a team to decide on every detail - from what we would eat, how we would decorate, the program we would have, and everything in between.

By the time it was over, we all had decided that we enjoyed our day jobs too much to become party planners.  But if the day jobs don't work out, we now know we have something to fall back on.





Each one of us volunteered to oversee different parts of the evening.  I said I would do the arrangements for the tables.  This was one of them.



And this was the other one.  My husband commented that my floral designs have become similar to my forays into baking - I am always giving them away and our family doesn't get to enjoy them much.  But I put the vases together the night before the party, so we had 12 hours to enjoy them.




I volunteered my daughter (who has started her own cup-cakery) to make cupcakes for the dessert.  They were raspberry chocolate and lavender-vanilla.  And she decorated them in the colours of our decorations. [Many of the guests commented on how delicious they were: "I never eat cupcakes, but I had two of them!"]

Another job I took on was to make a corsage for the guest of honour and a boutonniere for her significant other - who had supported her for over thirty years of her career.



I asked a friend of mine to pray "The Prayer of the Wrist Corsage" because I had never made one before.  Both the wrist corsage and the boutonniere lasted for the whole evening, which I was very grateful for.  Praise the Lord!




The day of the party was a busy one.  The team showed up with boxes of "Everything Party" and set to work to transform the hall into a celebratory station.  Within hours, it was ready, and the party began.  The food was terrific, there were friends and co-workers (former and present) who showed up, we had a program of singing, skits, original songs, speeches, presentations, and then we danced the night away until the wee hours.  It was a memorable from the start to the finish.  The next day, the whole team basked in the glow of a job well done.



P.S.  Here are the words to the song I wrote for her in case you want to enjoy the moment a little longer like I did:

A New Start
There'll be new songs to sing

There'll be new shows to see

There'll be new works of art

There'll be new goals to reach

It’s time to rise and make a new start

There'll be new trails to blaze

There'll be new hills to climb

New challenges to find

There'll be new friends to meet

New treasures to keep in your heart

There’s many sweet adventures round the bend

A new chapter is about to begin

We wish you joy and happiness along the way

Reach out for the promise of the new day.

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