A Dress for Geoff's Wedding

“When I move back home, we will have Oreos in  the house at all times.”

Whether or not Elise was joking when she said this last month, since her return to La Place I hear her voice when I am grocery shopping and respond with a cookie purchase.

Living at home puts her closer to the Make A Wish office in Metairie, where she serves as an intern, a requirement for her December graduation. The perks also include home-cooked meals (almost daily,)  chicken salad (her new favorite food,) and laundry service (which she declines.) In exchange, we get educated. Apparently we are supposed to have cable boxes attached to every television. Elise is about to change our archaic ways.

Elise’s goal has always been to return to the bayou for grad school and a recent opportunity to move into a house with best friend was too good to pass up. Her still unpacked bags will return to Thibodaux, where she will live on the weekends. This news sent me scurrying in search of thrift store furniture to refinish for her new room.

I decided to begin looking in Thibodaux so I could work in a visit to Victoria. A cancelled English class allowed us time for breakfast. Assuring her I would have no problem occupying the three hours before our lunch date, she headed to her next classes. I headed to Houma.

I had no more success finding new furniture for Elise than I did at the thrift store, so I decided to pay attention to the thought that surprised me. Maybe it was time to begin looking for a dress for Geoff’s wedding.  With my son’s wedding less than three months away, it was certainly not too soon to begin to search for something to wear. I tried on the first dress that caught my eye, decided to look no further, and walked out of store with a dress that I love.

I drove back to Thibodaux thanking God for planning my day better than I could have imagined and happy I didn’t stubbornly stick to my schedule of shopping for Elise. She’ll get her furniture. And her cable box in La Place. In the meantime, she can watch her recorded shows in the living room with her Dad and answer all of his questions about each episode.

And even though Victoria went to the wrong classroom and sat through the wrong class, she later found her teacher and explained her error. Everything will work out. Hopefully life will always be as easy as finding a dress in five minutes.

I went home and ate an Oreo to celebrate.

Ronny may be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com