the family event

sunday night my church celebrated fall with a festival in our church's parking lot. while our church is quite large and known in the charlotte area, i have to admit i was skeptical, not expecting many people in attendance. much to my shock, when i arrived with my sister, boyfriend and toddler cousin chance i saw way more people filling up the lot than i had during some college tailgatings.

instantly our church has tranformed its paved paradise into a hay-filled, siren blowing, sound electrifying hub for the evening. as different ministries set up tents, a massive line filled with people waiting on free barbecue and various talented groups taking center stage to entertain the hyped crowd on this chilly evening, i eagerly pushed my stroller through the red sea in a mere attempt to locate my crazy family.

now if any of you know my family -- you should know this isnt nearly as hard to do as it is finding waldo. as im pushing the stroller around, looking for someone i recognize -- instantly i hear my name being beckoned across the crowd. "LINDSAY -- WE'RE OVER HERE!" i turn and look and surely enough see my mother, aunt, uncle, and three cousins standing in the middle of the free line.

just where i expected.

"where's everyone else?" i asked, not being a fan of the southern treat.
"nanny and the babies are over there sitting. more are running around. some are playing games."

of course, we would be the only family enjoying the "family event" in different parts of the parking lot. as i passed by the jeff gordon race car (not without first rolling my eyes), i spotted my grandmother making friends with even more crazy church people. keenly known for her ability to talk to a complete stranger in the supermarket, for nanny a church-wide event with people just sitting around talking was like a child's christmas morning.

and of course, the story wouldn't be complete without my looney mother interpretting "bring your own blankets and chairs" to mean bring the tri-fold neon beach chairs to the event. so as i kicked the brakes on the stroller, i somehow managed to prop myself down on the pink beach chair without first killing myself or better yet, falling and miserably embarassing myself for the rest of my life.

behind me, nanny was talking about god to her newfound friends, asking them the questions that would make any twenty-something roll their eyes.

"no nanny, heaven does not have EVERYONE in it."
"yes nanny, you are a good person and you love the Lord."
"um, nanny i dont know what pastor thinks about that."

in my head, i continue to answer her questions or even more think to myself "dont turn around and identify her new friends -- you might know them too." just pretend you dont exist. (did i mention i was sitting on a beach chair, in a church parking lot, in charlotte, one night while it was forty degrees outside? yes, good way of not exisiting i know.)

then just as i think the night couldnt possibly get any more embarassing, along comes my pastor and his wife who are pretty much mini-celebrities in our city and royalty at our own church. as they simply are trying to greet people and welcome them to the event, my insane family decides to yell (with an emphasis on yell) at them as if they just saw jayz walking down rodeo drive.

oh god, now not only am in in a pink beach chair with my grandmother making a fool of herself to total strangers, but my pastor and his wife have just been called over to our area to chat. if there could have been a lightning bolt to come down and hit me from the sky -- this would have been the opportune moment.

as my only two sources of sanity branch off to go seek coffee and perhaps more normal people to entertain themselves with, i attempt my very own getaway. carefully prying myself from my sandless chair, i attempted to go walk around alone for a few minutes to catch-up with my sanity.

just as i was about twenty yards away from the family chaos, up came running my five-year-old cousin natalie, tears running down her eyes. "whats the matter," i asked.

"mike left me. he was waiting in line with me, nathan and zach and i got lost," she said scared out of her mind.
"its ok, youre with me now."

just as i took her hand, up came zach the other lost boy.
"where have you been, zach?" i questioned his far-more mature self.
"natalie ran off. i went to get her and lost mike."
(keep in mind, mike is supposed to be the responsible adult here watching the three youngins.)

now with two kids in hand and my sanity on its way to the moon, i walked them both with me to find something better to do. on the way, we ran into my older cousin and her husband. "zach, we've been looking for you," jenny said. one kiddo down, i took natalie with me.

a few minutes later -- lauren came up to me frantically saying "have you seen natalie? we cant find her. mike's freaking out!" behind me, little blue eyes peaks out.

even minutes later, my cousin loses her toddler sons bookbag and her friend loses her purse. seconds later, both are recovered as zach and jenny and me and natalie reunite with the rest of the family.

i prop nathan and natalie together up on the blue beach chair, give chance the toddler a kiss goodbye as his mom strolled him home for the night and looked around to see all the family sitting around drinking coffee, sitting and not speaking a word as the choir performed on the stage.

for a minute it was complete silence as i looked around the collective group of all ages, iq levels and sanity marks. then i nudged mom and lauren who were sitting in the other neon beach chairs and smiled.

"what are you smiling about?" they both asked, apparently shocked that someone of my caliber remembered how to smile.
"oh nothing much. just something." i said. "you know, we may be a crazy family. but one things for sure ... we sure do take care of one another."

and for me, that was exactly the sanity i needed.