Live Tonight, Laugh Tomorrow, Love Always

Parties And Preparations

    The auburn sky hung above as I exited my car, feeling the crisp autumn breeze as I took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the location. Rolling fields of grass led to the opened cast iron and wood barn doors attached to the beautiful newly renovated barn, welcoming visitors in to enjoy the sprawling interior filled with natural light and subtle string lights all brought together by the massive rustic chandelier in the center of the room hanging off the high ceiling just a bit above the second floor. Nothing I loved more than a venue like this. This kind of venue brought people together and hosted unforgettable memories, nights that helped pick someone back up after a hard time, nights that brought life and light to those who attended, a time when you could just live for a bit. Nights like those were my passion, which is exactly why I was here 45 minutes early to see if there was an opportunity to help set up the venue.

    As I walked towards the barn, venue staff worked to hang decorations, clean tables, and prepare drinks and food as the thought of attendees arriving within the hour plagued their minds, and most likely a long to-do list as well. I stepped inside and found a girl who looked to be my age struggling to hang a banner under the railings of the second floor. I approached her, grabbing one side of the banner and asking "Hey you need some help?" I reached up and easily attached the banner to the hook thanks to my height as the girl watched and prepared a response to my question pausing for a moment.

    She smiled as she responded to my question "I always could use the help as you can probably see. I don't recognize you, are you one of the new event staff?" She moved to hand me the other side of the banner as she tied back her long brown hair to relive the sweating fit she found herself experiencing. The heat was slowly backing off as the sun began setting but it would be a few hours before it was noticeably cooler.

    I grabbed the other end of the banner and hopped onto the other chair while I replied "I'm not one of the new event staff no, I came early to try and get in contact with the company planning the event as I haven't had any luck finding them online or anywhere. Also I just love this kind of work and wanted to help if I could." She looked at me with slight confusion then nodded slowly as I stepped off of the chair and observed the newly hung banner. The banner read "Live Tonight, Laugh Tomorrow, Love Always" and was hung in front of the back entrance.

    "Well I definitely won't turn down the help we are understaffed as is. Just stay near me and don't go near the food or drinks until I run this by my boss. My name's Brooke, now why not tell me yours and how in the world you could enjoy this chaos while we go grab those chairs and get them to those tables." She talked fast as she had already started grabbing chairs, laying them on the tables while I listened and assisted.

    "My name is Sarah and, how could I not enjoy this chaos? I've been working on it all my life and there's just something about racing against that clock trying to make everything just right, marking things off the list and making those plans actually happen." As we worked to prepare the tables and clear away space for the dance floor we chatted about my past experience in similar situations, doing tech theater and being backstage for shows, working in a skating rink at one point and a restaurant the next, and planning events for student council and clubs. As we finished up placing the final chairs we started rearranging the last of the tables to comfortably fit the incoming crowd.

    I was setting down another chair as I heard a large thump from behind me, causing me to whirl around to find Brooke fallen over on the floor where her dress had gotten caught on the leg of a chair causing her to miss a step and become far more acquainted with the floor then I thought she would had preferred. I ran over to grab her hand and help her up as I called over "Hey are you okay? Usually it's the men you dance with that step on your dress and they haven't even arrived yet. Guess your one step ahead of the game, or should I say this dance?"