For Dana

Dana is sad that I have written so little here lately. So, I'll tell a story that she doesn't know I know.

A week and a half ago Dana celebrated her 18th birthday with eight girl friends. We decorated with lights and snowflakes and candles and I planned, cooked, and served a four course mystery dinner. It was all part of my gift to her. She and her friends had a good time, enjoyed the food, and had fun watching each other eat salad, lasagna, and cheesecake, sometimes with but more often without utensils.

Dana, however, doesn't know that she also gave me a gift that night. The girls played a game where someone read a question from pre-printed cards, everyone else wrote their answers to the question, and the reader had to guess which answer went with each person.

I was in the kitchen cleaning up the supper dishes when I heard the reader ask, "If you could pick anyone to go out for dinner with who would it be?" The list of answers read something like this:

My future husband
A special someone
Audrey Hepburn
Abraham
My husband-to-be
My Mom
Susan Sarandon
My future husband

Can you guess what most of these girls have on their minds!?

Well, the guesses were made, the correct answers revealed, and I learned that my Dana's answer had been, "My Mom"--and she didn't even know I could hear them.

I love you, Dana!