5 things party invitations have taught me about my friends.

This year marks 5-years since my cancer diagnosis and I currently show no evidence of disease.

5 is a big number in cancer years.

My husband and I wanted to thank the people who supported us over the years and also to show our friends how much we appreciated them. (I assumed my family already know this!). I talked about the celebrations in my 8-month update.

Thank you to all who came and all who donated to the Breast Cancer Resource Center. If you have not donated, please consider doing so now.

But on to the invitations! 2 months have passed since the party, but I thought I would share a little bit about what the responses to my invitation taught me about my friends.

1. It's a culture thing. I think.

First of all, about me. (Isn't is always?) Growing up, if we received an invitation labelled "Mr. X" or "Mrs. Y" , then the invitation was not for anyone else but them. No partner/guest or child unless explicitly stated. If children were invited, it would read "...and Family". I found, to my chagrin, when I sent the invitations, many people found it ambiguous. I figured this was a cultural difference. I just did not realise there was room for interpretation. Now I know.

2. No Reply = "Maybe"

I saw that some people viewed the invitation, but did not yet respond. I assumed it was because they were not sure yet. Clearly there is a group of people who believe that by not replying, they are not saying "Yes" or "No", they are saying "Maybe", rather than ACTUALLY replying "Maybe". ...Oh, I get it.

3. The procrastinators

As in life, some folks delayed giving a response. Some people waited until the last minute - like they didn't want to commit themselves or they were not sure (see point 2. above). It was just interesting to me that there was a group who maybe wanted to come, but were unsure or it was too far in advance and did not want to commit? Why wouldn't they say 'Maybe' until they knew?

4. The "committers"

Unlike those who delayed, there were a group of people who signaled their intent right away. That is, if they did not already have a prior commitment, they replied right away and committed themselves to coming, bearing in mind that things could always change of course.

5. The Forgetfuls

Yep, as in all things, perhaps life just got in the way of my very important invitation and if you didn't reply right away, chances are you may have forgotten to reply. This may also be what happened in category 3. It's cool, I understand. Happens to me too, but then I make a list.

All in all, I had a terrific response rate to my invitation (80% !) but unfortunately not all the 'Yeses' were able to make it. No matter, I danced my feet off, celebrated my 5-years-and-counting, celebrated a milestone birthday with my friends and a good time (I hope) was had by all.

If you didn't get invited, I'll get you on my tea list, sorry about that!

Finally, my dancing shoes. I thought I'd last only about 15 minutes in them, but I did myself proud and wore them most of the night.

Follow me on Twitter @AustinTrini and Instagram @AustinTrini .

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