Passover 911

Last night was the first Passover seder. The seder is the festive meal during which the story commemorating the biblical event of Hebrews' escape from enslavement in Egypt is told. And, yes, it's the same story every year. And, yes, we eat the same food every year. Last night, however, we had quite a bit of excitement. The host, my sister-in-law, contracted some kind of stomach virus about 30 minutes before everyone arrived. So, here we were, our own group of Hebrews without a leader. Fortunately, we had Ann. Trusty, old Ann. As the rest of us sister-in-laws rolled up our sleeves and dug in plating gefilte fish and chopping celery and filling water glasses, Ann became our leader. She told us to put out the matzahs, 3 at the head table in the matzah cover. She reminded us that the celery needs salt water. She made sure everyone who wanted 2 matzah balls got them. She kept us soldiers in line, the wine flowing and the kitchen spotless. You couldn't set down a dirty dish without it being cleaned only seconds later. And, she even remembered to put out the desserts. At the end of the night, as we stood shoulder to shoulder washing and drying, we knew that had it not been for her, our seder would not have happened. I know miracles are traditionally reserved for Chanukah, but this truly was our Passover miracle. Now for the second seder.......