Panic has set in.
The last-minute barrage of questions is in full frenzy.
This is not unusual behavior; it’s just that this time, the zeal my family is demonstrating at this point in the planning has caught me off guard. I don’t know why, because they do everything like this: OVERBOARD.
What you need to understand is that each event (no matter if it is a couple getting away for the weekend or a wedding for 100), has phases.
1. Inspiration
2. Research
3. Planning
4. Scheduling
5. Planning
6. Reservations
7. Planning
8. Packing
9. Forgetting all the planning
Then calling someone who might remember what was planned.
And then finally calling anyone you may have had contact with because, “OMG I cant find the map”!
This is an excerpt from an actual conversation about our reunion:
“I found the MAP”
“Good.”
“How do we get to where this map is? What State is this in?”
“West Virginia.”
“WEST VIRGINIA? HONEY YOU NEVER SAID WE WERE GOING TO WEST VIRGINIA! Does this place have running water?”
This illustrates that no matter how hard you try, some communication just doesn’t get out to the whole group.
Communication in all its forms is the cornerstone to a good event. Our family has had hundreds of communiques over the past months and addressed each issue more than once.
However in the excitement of the waning hours before departure the brain does weird stuff! People start blurting out questions before they even ask themselves if they might already know the answer. Grown adults become completely helpless and need someone to hold their hand while they decide what to pack.
Here at Opossum Creek, we answer these questions and go through all the phases for total strangers everyday. And then they are not strangers anymore. But if it’s your family you’re dealing with, then they just become ‘stranger’.
The strange people who are my family start arriving on Saturday. I half expect to wake up and they will be sleeping in their car in my yard a day early. It has happened before.
I will keep you posted as to how the chaos progresses and when Murphy shows up.