The Birthday Party Crashers or "Well that was awkward."

Thursday in the mail we got a little blue envelope addressed to Morgan. She was thrilled of course (at age six it's not likely you're getting bills), and I figured it was maybe a card from her teacher since school starts this week. What was actually inside was an invitation to a birthday pool party for today at 4:00.

The strange thing was that I didn't recognize the name of the child, her mother, or the party's address. There was an RSVP number, but I was reluctant to call and tell this woman that I didn't know who she was. I asked my mom (who is the bookkeeper at Morgan's school) if the girl was a student there, but she wasn't. I asked Nick if the little girl belonged to any of his friends, and I asked a friend in the children's ministry at our church if she knew her or her parents. No one knew these people.

Yesterday afternoon when I stepped out to let the dog out the lady hosting the party called to find out if Morgan had gotten her invitation. I stepped back in just as the answering machine was rewinding. The message included both my name as well as Morgan's, and she said that there was a problem with the mail, some of the invitations had been delayed, and she hoped that Morgan could be there. She also asked me to call her back. I called her right back but got her voice mail.

Several hours later she called me back, and I confessed that I didn't recognize her name. She seemed quite put out, but she recovered nicely and told me that her daughter is in Morgan's Sunday School class. Once she was on the phone I felt like it would be rude to decline the invitation (especially since I'd apparently offended her and Morgan was begging to go).

So today we went out and bought a birthday gift and showed up at this pool party. When we got there, there was a rather awkward moment when Morgan and the birthday girl met face to face. The girl whispered something in her mother's ear and then plainly said, "I don't remember her!"

Within a few minutes it became apparent that Morgan was indeed in the girl's Sunday School class - at the church we left almost two years ago. We'd seriously never met any of these people in our lives. Ironically enough the girl's aunt and uncle attend the church we actually belong to now, although we'd never met them either (it's a pretty big church).

As it turned out Morgan (who can make friends with a fence post) had a great time, and we all had a laugh about it. Nick especially is still chuckling over it. Next time though, he can answer the mystery invitation!