Tuesday Dinner... Farewell

[rowanf]

Back in the early 1990s, my friend Linnea decided she couldn't manage to do two subscription dinners a month. She asked me to take over Fourth Tuesday and I have been doing a monthly dinner party every since. It has been a wonderful and rewarding exercise. I have loved having my friends gather, new friends come in and meet the old, all in an atmosphere of hospitality and good cheer.

However, after 18 years or so I have been finding myself increasingly burnt out as each month rolls around and I have to plan, shop, prep and cook for 12-16 people. This month, because of our trip, I had declared that we were buying take-away pizza. Folks still signed right up.

You'd think that buying pizza would be stress-free. I thought so. But evidently I didn't do it right and someone chided me for not buying their pizza of choice. I spent two very unpleasant and stressful hours stewing about it and decided that this was the last straw. I just don't have the energy to coordinate a dinner party every single month.

So, last night was the last Fourth Tuesday dinner. It had a good run, going all the way back to when Linnea started them in 1978 or so. I have no desire to lose touch with my friends and I hope that things will work out. I'm really sad about it. But I needed to shed the stressor in my life and it is good that I did.

Comments

[mr-kurt.livejournal.com]

As one of your attendees, thank you! It was a wonderful monthly event, and a delightful time. I was honored to be included, and even occasionally cook things for it.

Great community dinners like this are the stuff of legend, things people remember for many years after they have run their course. This one will certainly be that for me. I met wonderful folks, had great conversation, and generally enjoyed myself immensely.

For those not attending, the food was generally marvelous, yet inexpensive. (Except the time or two I cooked seafood lasagna, sadly.) The conversation was lively and playful, the wine varied, the company entertaining. Truly a magnificent event.

[rowanf.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Having you and your family join us has been a pleasure and a delight.