I organized a Purple Day party for the weekend before Purple Day—timing that would have made a lot of sense. I ended up spending that particular Saturday in the hospital, however, so my husband and I were left with two choices: cancel the party or reschedule it. Since I’m writing a post with “purple party” in the title three weeks after Purple Day, you’ve probably already guessed what course of action we decided to take.
After we chose a new date and revised the Facebook invitation accordingly, our purple party hit a couple of roadblocks unrelated to my medical issues. First, I’m currently grieving a loss in my family and wasn’t sure whether the party would be a good distraction or too overwhelming; second, an ice storm was forecasted for the day of the event, and I didn’t want to imperil my friends’ lives for the sake of a theme party. I ultimately realized that I was likely to benefit from getting my mind off things, though, and I made sure that invitees knew that they shouldn’t come if the weather was going to make the trip to our place unsafe and/or overly unpleasant. The party was on.
I’ve gone a little overboard in terms of planning Purple Day celebrations in past years. For my own sanity and everyone’s general health, I was determined to rein it in this time around. I managed to do so, kind of, and I’m glad to report that despite an approximately 50% reduction in purple decorations and a complete lack of artificial grape favouring, the party was a success. Lots of people were able to make it even though April was having an identity crisis, weather-wise. Every single attendee wore at least one purple article of clothing. I made very, very purple cupcakes and purple popcorn, and guests brought theme-appropriate foods and drinks. I prepared an epilepsy quiz that I forgot to print. There weren’t any ridiculous purple Jell-O Jigglers—maybe next year—but my husband and I had a great time and are so thankful to have spent the evening in such fantastic company.
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 