Every Sunday for the past several months I have enjoyed dinner with my sister Ruth and her family. I have a standing invitation and have rarely missed a Sunday dinner since January. I almost didn’t go today; I had already spent time with Ruth watching her son play his afternoon soccer match and then went home to continue the chores I’d started this morning. It had been a very productive, chore-completion kind of day: I’d started early by changing the linens on my bed, doing two loads of laundry, setting up the dishwasher to wash the dishes, sweeping several rooms in the house, and doing my grocery shopping all before 1:00 p.m. I headed to the soccer match and on my return at 3:30 p.m., set about the task of ironing nearly two-dozen shirts while watching the most recent episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy” on my computer as I worked. When I called Ruth at 5:30 to check on the progress of dinner, she informed me that she was just about to start cooking.
I am sort of a homebody. Once I get home and sit down, it takes a very powerful inducement to get me to come back out. Particularly on a day when I’ve worked a lot, the later it gets the less likely I am to to want to get up and head out. So I told Ruth I was going to cook chili for my own dinner and was not going to come out to her house. She told me to go ahead and cook my chili for tomorrow and then come over and have dinner with them. I told her she was nuts and that I wasn’t going to come out again. She told me to cook my chili and check back in with her in a little while and I could come over and have dinner with them. Ruth is not usually so insistent, but shaking my head, I cooked my chili, finishing just as the phone rang.
“Okay, so we’re having Chinese take out for dinner,” Ruth announced and I chuckled. Apparently her oven was on the fritz.“Enjoy,” I answered. “Did you cook your chili?” “Yes, it was good.” “You didn’t eat your chili, did you?” She demanded, and I laughed again. “No I didn’t eat it.” “Good, put it away and you can come over for dinner.”
After another moment’s hesitation, I told her I’d be right over. I don’t want to act like it is such a huge undertaking to go to her house–she lives a 15-minute beltway ride away from me. Of course, given how much time I spend on the beltway during the week, the idea of spending time on it during the weekend is not always pleasant. Nonetheless, I went. It was unusual for Ruth to persist in the invitation, so I decided to get over myself and go. It was the usual entertaining evening: my sister, brother-in-law and their two children are thoroughly enjoyable to watch and engage with. As I was finishing my dinner, suddenly the room went dark and for a moment I thought the power was out. Into the kitchen Ruth came (I hadn’t seen her leave) carrying a pie with lit candles on it and they all began singing happy birthday to me. (My birthday had passed a few days earlier.) Now I understood why Ruth had pressed me to come over this evening–I was pleased to be included in their family birthday ritual.
I am grateful for my sister Ruth. Regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve written specifically about her twice (http://walkinyourpower.com/blog/?p=369 and http://walkinyourpower.com/blog/?p=1168) and alluded to her on many occasions. She helped make my transition out here in the DC area smooth and uneventful, helping me find and doing all the legwork to secure a place to live. She helped me get settled here in the area, and now my standing invitation to Sunday dinner is a highlight of my week. These are simple but profound blessings–the love and care of family strengthens and keeps me standing strong no matter what circumstances I face. When I made the decision about where I would live when I moved here, I intentionally chose to live close to my sisters and that has made all the difference.
Tonight as I made my way home from Ruth’s house with my doggie-bag in hand (she never sends me home without leftovers I can have for lunch or dinner the next day) I smiled, grateful that I’d allowed myself to be talked into coming out for another Sunday dinner. Now as I prepare to take my rest for the night, I will offer prayers of thanksgiving and blessings for Ruth and her family. May they each prosper and be in good health and overall wellbeing. So be it!
