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Golden goblets filled with endless supplies of royal wine, couches of gold and silver with marble pillars, fine linens, and extravagant display of wealth. It was the party of the century, drawing influential people throughout the Persian Empire, lasting 180 days with the grand finale being the queen’s entrance. But she opted out, saying “No, thank you” or maybe just “No!” We don’t know exactly what happened, but Queen Vashti refused to make an appearance leading to the ultima

Chatter filled the room as we squeezed through the crowd between clusters of reuniting friends. We didn’t know a soul, so we retreated to our room until the opening dinner in the hotel’s huge ballroom. There we sat at a table tucked in the back and, by the end of the night, made two new friends. We were a mother-daughter pair of newbies. Actually, we were known as virgins, officially “Erma Virgins” to be clear and precise as all writers should be — a tip gleaned in the days t