Chrisanne's Open House

An open house at C.G. Sparks

Chrisanne’s Open House

Sometimes I can be in a large crowd and feel utterly alone; strange how that can happen.  But that wasn’t the case during a gathering I attended not long ago.  My friend Chrisanne invited me to her store’s open house and I eagerly put it on my calendar.

When the day arrived I was excited to attend.  Yet, as the day wore on and became more complicated it was beginning to feel as if I would not be able to attend.  My final meeting of the day dragged on and on.  I felt like a kid trying to sleep on Christmas Eve! The specter of the open house was dancing in my head and I could visualize myself talking with my friends and family while walking in the midst of the beautiful offerings in Chrisanne’s store.

The first thing I saw when I arrived was an old Range Rover on the other side of the tree-height roll-up glass door.  It looked as if it was right off the set of an “Indiana Jones” movie.  Its rusted cargo bed was piled high with wooded boxes and furniture.

“That’s one of the best displays I’ve ever seen!” I thought to myself as I walked through the man-door and entered the large space.  A large warehouse-type building filled with people, food, antique furniture, music and the sounds of laughter.  It was good to be there!

Members of my family were also there and it didn’t take long to find them by winding my way around the throng as if I were one of the pythons from the jungles near the cities of India where Chrisanne personally selects her fine offerings.  Once united, we spent the rest of the evening acting like tourists in search of discovery as we talked and viewed the amazing sights.

New sights were all around us and just before we left I pulled my daughter close to me and whispered in her ear, “Look at how different all of these people are.  Isn’t it wonderful to be here to enjoy each other’s company?”

I smiled thinking, “I’m sure everyone is looking at me and saying, ‘look at that guy he doesn’t look anything like the people I usually associate with!’”

But there we all were; all having fun, all with people we loved, all friends & customers of Chrisanne! 

When we’re not remembering we’re Chrisanne’s Customers, we all spend our lives struggling to differentiate ourselves from those around us.  We work hard at being different.  We seek “our own.”  We associate with people sharing our beliefs and talk about how everyone should think and act as we do.  We try to be divided.

“Sad,” I thought as I left.  I would be a better person.  I’d be learning more.  I’d be discovering more.  I’d be more, if I would only spend at least as much of my time working to appreciate the differences of those around me as I do trying to separate myself from them.  So, I made the personal commitment to spend more time with “those people.”

After all, Chrisanne has shown us we’re all part of the human family and even though one third of all the ice cream eaten in the world is vanilla there are other wonderful flavors.  What would life be like without them?