Sane and Simple

It's dark enough at night now to see the stars again. From my pillow I could see the stars twinkling like Christmas lights through the trees during the night. I found that comforting. Throughout my childhood, when we would come home late on a clear night, we would look up at the stars.

In less than two weeks my parents and my sisters will gather at my house for supper. They live 600 miles away and are coming this way to attend oldest son's wedding. It will be the first time in my adult life that my parents and sisters will be together at my house. I can count on one hand the times any of them have been to my home in the 28 years since I left home. My parents are ageing and their health continues to decline. I am expecting this will be not only the 4th time they've been to my home, but also the last time they will make the trip.

One of the gifts of recovery is that I can stand back and take a simpler approach to having them here for supper. It will be the day after oldest son's wedding - which is taking place several hours from here - a day when I am expecting my spoon supply to be not quite up to par, so supper will be a weiner roast and salads with watermelon and ice cream for dessert. I am grateful that I can make a simple and sane choice. There was a time when simple and sane was outside my realm of possibilities.

Part of the Serenity Prayer talks about accepting the things I cannot change. Despite my inability to dictate the weather I am hoping to share a clear and starry night with my family.



PS: For all you Olympic sports fans - I was yelling at the TV last night watching the US 4x100 swim team go for the gold. That was a nail biter of a race.