My battle buddy Mauri and I hosted a last-minute holiday party last week for our unit. Even though we knew a lot of families would be busy with family and parties, we wanted to offer something *really nice* (read that in Cousin Eddie’s voice). We settled on a laid-back get together at the ever-beautiful and milspouse-owned MacPherson House in Fayetteville, NC.
Short RSVP list, bountiful table
My counterpart Mauri is energetic, a planner by nature, and a boon to my sanity. She created and sent out the invitations for an ornament exchange, and as far as who we invited, we actually did something a little unusual: we asked female service members to join us.
Background: Last month, Military Families Magazine sponsored author Jennifer Barnhill’s book signing event at the milspouse-owned Bound & Vine bookstore. Barnhill invited the crowd into authentic conversation, choosing to speak on topics that had been voted on beforehand. As we all discussed hot topics, someone explained that for their “coffees,” they had always invited all of the spouses (both male and female) and the female service members.
Mauri and I took that to heart, and lo and behold, two of our unit’s company commanders accepted. The party numbers on the RSVP list were few, but we still loaded the tables at the decorated MacPherson House with a Crock Pot of soup, homemade bread, Christmas salad, platters of cookies, and even a delightfully simple dip of cream cheese and jam.
An intimate gathering
We had planned on eating and then moving into the more formal sitting room of the inn to exchange the gifts that sat under the Christmas tree. I initially worried we didn’t have enough planned activities beyond the ornament exchange, but Mauri assured me that the conversation would be the main event.
She was right. We never made it to the sitting room.
We enjoyed our girl dinner as we comfortably lounged in the dining room the entire night, chatting and giggling. We filled and refilled our plates. The service members shared their unique experiences, with one even showing her classic “shaved head” photo taken during Ranger school. We discussed serious topics that would have been too heavy and vulnerable in a large gathering, but equally told outrageous stories that had all of us laughing so hard we cried.
The small number of our group ensured that everyone had their turn to speak and be heard, and no one felt left out. Intimate parties will always be my preference — they minimize superficial small talk and also offer the opportunity for meaningful one-on-one conversations.
So from our small group to yours: Happy Holidays.
