The day and time came with one minor obstacle. It was raining cats and dogs. The guests were graciously cooperative and helped her alleviate her anxiety. They filled the room with their laughter, wit and sheer presence. 6/7th of them spoke Armenian and would have liked nothing more than to dive into their maternal language that they all loved, sprinkled with some Turkish inherited from their lands' occupiers, who, in turn had inherited some of it from occupying Arabs' lands. Out of respect for the 1/7th of the guests, they all spoke English. "I really do have great friends" she thought and that superseded any fishy subjects or other conversations about food.
The desserts were succulent and plenty, so was the wine.
She wanted to do everything by her own self. She tried to do everything by herself. She asked for help when needed but didn't let anyone leave their seat which for some active personalities was unsettling. She tried to remedy this by having one guest jump up and down with her at one point.
After everyone had left, with the promise to do it again, with parking authorization tickets guaranteeing their return, it took the hostess a while to settle down and finally go to bed. She tossed and turned although she was sleepy and tired. She couldn't understand why she was replaying the whole evening over and over in her head as if she had forgotten something. She couldn't have. She even offered them some cognac towards the end. So what was it?
"I FORGOT THE COFFEE AND TEA!" she screamed getting out of bed. She said this in Armenian of course: "Ամաա, սուրճը եւ թէյը մոռցայ:"
Then she realized it was too late to do anything about it, made herself a cup of Sleepytime tea, drank it, forgave herself (I think) and went back to bed and this time she slept like a baby thanking her good fortune.
