Aww, thank you! I can't take credit for the pun; my stepdad came up with it, but I gleefully stole it. The tea party was so much fun and the food was delicious, and I CAN take credit for that. :)

The parallels turned out to be exactly what I needed them to be, and I was glad to do that exercise. I don't know that any amount of processing can help this situation be anything other than what it is, but if nothing else at least I was able to make something out of it.