Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The Sunday visit

“Hey buddy,” says Steve on the other end of the phone.

“HEY, how are you?” I say, so glad to hear his unmistakably friendly voice because I know what it means when he calls like this on a Sunday.

“We’ve had a busy weekend but we wanna come over and chill for a bit, sound good?”

“YES. Please. Come over NOW.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The good news: You Swiffer’d the floor earlier. And showered.

Either of these accomplishments are iffy at best most weekends, so the fact that you managed to clean the floor and yourself on a Sunday is worth notifying the Vatican of this Minor Domestic Miracle.

You never bothered with make up, however, and you’re fairly certain you were wearing the same fashionable ensemble (jeans, Cubs hat, long-sleeved t-shirt, fleece vest) the last time they visited, but what the hell.

You check the first floor toilet for ass shrapnel. Thankfully the porcelain gods are smiling (perhaps because it is Sunday) and the bowl is clear. You give the whole thing a quick once over with a disinfecting wipe and it’s good to go, so to speak.

You gather up the half-dozen dog toys strewn about in a random yet obviously purposeful pattern by Gromit, Genius Dog.

You light a few candles to make the cold white kitchen a little cozier. You spray some air freshener.

Beer status in the fridge? Check. Snack status in the cupboard? Good.

Voila!

Ready for the Sunday visit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They make you smile every time you see them.

They make you feel like what’s going on in your life is important.

You listen. You laugh. They listen. They laugh.

You share the stories that you just can’t share with anyone else.

This time together is rare and precious because it doesn’t happen too often with all the working and living you do.

It makes you feel closer to everything that's really important in life.

More than any church. Better than any religion.

It's the Sunday visit. And it's a blessing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am listening to: The World Exploded Into Love – Bob Schneider
I am reading: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
And I am: Connected

4 comments:

Susan's Snippets said...

Those are priceless visits and rare;
A perfect alignment of personalities and care;
The back and forth of love and sharing -
an easiness within the caring.
I am sure they feel the same, these friends.
A quality friendship, often like a circle, has no end.

Amen

molly gras said...

What a great relationship -- Pos and I have a semi-regular arrangement on Friday nights [Yippee! Pizza night!} with two sets of very close family friends (all the adults are pals; all the kids are pals).

And you're right -- better than religion. It must be a throw back to the days when early nomadic people needed to establish trustworthy tribes.

We stick together; keep out the beasts.

molly gras said...

But as an aside --

your ass shrapnel reference made me laugh out loud!

damn near choked on my tea!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you SOOOO much Hedy for your blog today; but please know that you NEVER have to worry about "swiffering" your floor or "showering yourself" before we come over. We just love being in your company and never notice anything else except your friendship. xoxooxoxoxooxoxo