Home again

 Well, that was interesting, you think to yourself, as you take off your sweater that you had worn to church. You couldn't believe that you had actually gone to church with your wife. You had sworn you would never do that again. But there you were, walking into church with your wife. She had a smile on her face the whole time. She had even held your hand as you walked through the door. Why did she do that? Was it because she was afraid you would turn around and leave before walking in? You wouldn't have done that to her. The fact is, after you had committed to going with her, you wouldn't back down. That wasn't your style. She should have known that. Why did she hold your hand?

So here you were, back home after going to church. Going to church, who would have thought? Why did you do that? Why did you suddenly say you would do it? She had invited you again and again and you had never agreed to go with her. Why this time? Was it because of that awful invitation that you had received in the mail? Did that open you up to accepting her invite this time? 

Why didn't you just throw that dumb thing away? Life was all right before that thing had arrived. You never had to think about going to church. Having gone once, would she expect you to go again? Is she going to want you to go to church with her on Christmas? She has always asked you to go to that midnight service. It is so late. Why does she want to stay up till then? Sleep. You would prefer to sleep. 

You think to yourself, "I will just throw that thing away when I get back into the kitchen." That will end this ridiculous time. Then you can go back to the life that you were used to living. But it did make her happy to have you sitting next to her in church. You even liked a few of those songs that they sang, as long as they did not expect you to sing. Wait, did you just think that? No, you are not going back. You are going to stand firm and not give in again. Once a year is enough.

Heading into the kitchen, you look around for that invitation. It is going in the trash. That is for sure. "Thanks for going with me," your wife says to you. "It was really nice having you there with me." You look at her, the smile, the sparkle in her eyes, and you forget what you were doing. "You are welcome. I didn't mind it." What did you just say? "Maybe next week we could go together again," she says. There it is. You knew it was coming. "Yeah, maybe I will." What? Did those words come from your mouth? Stop it! Quit opening your mouth. Those words should never come from your lips. But there it was. Now what do you do? 

What are you going to do? you wonder...