Water runs from the faucet and I slip my hands into the suds. I scrub the day’s dishes as Mr. Fantastic sweeps up crumbs in the kitchen, Boys gently snore in one room, and the Lady dreams in another.
It is the end of the day and peace has washed over us all. We have fought and made up, tripped and bound wounds, hugged and kissed and loved each other as well as our hearts could manage.
I savor the act of wiping off today’s grease and mess from these plates. I make them clean and new and then I place them where they belong.
All this so that tomorrow they will be ready for service once again.
The closure I find today makes the activity of tomorrow possible.
It is my heart that is getting cleaned up as I stack white plates in cabinets. I think of how the day is coming when I will have only two plates to wash after a meal. That day will have its own joy, but the joy of today will be a memory.
I muse and embrace the wildness of three brothers, the fits that start with violence and end with laughter, the kindness and anger they seem to exchange so erratically. I think of the wisdom that says that a cord of three strands is not easily broken.
These three were meant for each other in ways we can’t see yet.
And then there is the sister. She who knows no rejection, for five people find her delightful and precious all day long. This strong little bird of a girl, tangled hair flying behind her, she holds each our hearts in her hand.
I wonder how far from our safe nest her brave heart will take her one day, and I wonder how these five hearts will bear it.
But today we are stacked together in a little cabinet of a home. Made to be a family, full of need for one another, we face new days all clean and new. It is hope and love that do the cleaning, as we learn the blessing of serving those we love.
We have been placed where we belong for this season. Remembering that helps so much when our placement becomes difficult to manage.
The water runs out of the sink, and the work is done. I take the hand of my life-long love and we savor the moment. After a good night’s rest we will begin again.
