Dec 04 2009
Aglow
On Thursdays, it’s my turn to make dinner.
My sis is coming off three twelve hour night shifts, and is exhausted. I don’t know what she did before I lived here, but I’m glad to take that burden off her overburdened shoulders*.
This week was much worse than usual – she’s been having pain and complications following a routine dental filling replacement, and it’s made it impossible for her to sleep. In addition to that, the pain kicked into high gear when she was at work on Wednesday night.
If you’re going to be in sudden pain, the ER is a good place to be, but also means that your exhausted ass is going to be dopy on top of being worn to a frazzle. But she fought her way through it, slept for a couple of hours on Thursday, and then had to get up and go back to town.
Rob had an appointment with the constant glucometer doctor, and Meg had an appointment to see the dentist. Both went well, though the dentist still isn’t sure exactly what happened. While Meg was waiting for her prescription, she called me and told me they were on their way home.
It was about 6:00 in the evening, so I took my flashlight and the chicken stew I had made earlier in the day and headed over to her house. As I negotiated the puddles, I hoped that Santa will bring one of us a little red wagon, which we can use to haul things back and forth between our houses. Fun and cute.
Once I arrived, I put on the heat and lights, started warming up the stew, and assembled the ingredients for cornmeal dumplings. I noticed that the sink was full of dishes – one of Rob’s less endearing habits is that he saves the dishes for Megan to do – so I put away the clean ones and started washing the dirty ones. I reflected on how nice it is that we know our way so well around each other’s houses, and felt a little pang remembering how Dad’s kitchen used to be as familiar to me as my own (and vice versa).
Just as I put the last dish in the drainer, I saw the car’s headlights through the kitchen window. Megan and Rob were so happy to come home to a warm house, with the lights on and dinner nearly ready. And the bottle of wine I grabbed on my way out the door didn’t come amiss.
Both of them do so much for me, and I was so happy to be able to do a little something for them for a change.
*Despite being the youngest, she has somehow become the head of the family. When she was little, she used to tell me “I’ll catch up with you. You’ll see!” She not only caught up with me, she passed me!