Or is it Lorelai Spielberg?

Our niece Lorelai appears to have a propensity for mounting spectacular productions,  if Saturday night is any indication.  Her parents,  Polly and Mark Amborn,  hosted a lovely dinner at their home in honor of Carthage’s homecoming,  and the meal and fellowship were all one could wish for.  But evidently for Lorelai the event was not quite complete – and she was bound and determined to bring the gathering to a fitting climax by mounting a special entertainment extravaganza with all of us as the stars.

We were instructed to gather in the living room, sitting in a circle – and waited as Lorelai gave each of us one of her stuffed toys…   and also some of her beautiful “jewelry.”   Then one by one,  we were invited (or should I say “instructed” – even “commanded”) to stand and describe to everyone else what outfit we were wearing – and say something about the stuffed animal and jewelry with which we were festooned.   She delivered her instructions quite earnestly, so we were anxious not to disappoint her in any way,  but didn’t quite know what to make of this.  Fortunately,  the first person called upon was Ted Repsholdt,  who does not have a shy or hesitant bone in his body.   He got to his feet and delivered a charming description of his outfit which sounded like something straight out of Project Runway.   And from there, it just got crazier and crazier as each of us – including Grandpa Bob – took our turn.   (Lorelai gave me her Snow White Bear because she figured – correctly – that I would love the bright colors of her outfit.)   And when we were all done,  she asked for each of us to bow and accept the applause of everyone else in the circle. . . so clearly she is interested in more than simple entertainment.  She is also interested in her extravaganzas being ‘classy’ affairs.

Mark surmised very quickly that what Lorelai was wanting to mount was an extravagant version of Show ‘n’ Tell – as though wanting us to step into something from her life and her world. . . and of course most of us remember, if rather vaguely,  when we were her age and Show ‘n’ Tell was something we ourselves enjoyed.   I can’t tell you how fun it was to sit in this circle of adults who really didn’t hesitate to thrown themselves into the matter at hand – Kids at Heart, I suppose –  although some of that is due to Lorelai sweetness which could probably break down the resistance of Scrooge himself.    The truth is that we would probably have stripped naked,  painted ourselves purple, and paraded down the street if Lorelai asked us.

Then again, that’s probably next year extravaganza.

pictured above:   Lorelai is giving the assembled guests her instructions.