IN DIFFERENT WAYS

This last day of April was filled with laughter and cooking. Mostly cooking, on my part. And baking. A good way to end the month with all three of my children.

The girls arrived a few minutes past 13,00. My son and I had come home less than an hour prior to their knock on the door. They were here to spend the afternoon and eat an early dinner before Cinnamon’s dance later in the evening.

On our way home, my son and I stopped by Angel Donuts to see if we could get some treats for all of us. It was a few minutes before noon, and they closed at 16,00, so we knew the likelihood of finding something we wanted was low. We knew because we have seen it many times before.

After we selected two donuts for us, which were a compromise, we were about to ask for the glazed ones for the girls. However, just as I was about to settle on those donuts, the employee whisked away the tray of glazed donuts and took them to the back. Sage and I had a puzzled look on our faces. There was nothing else which the girls might like that wasn’t ordinary. So, we simply told them we did not want the two donuts we chose and walked out. A bit frustrated.

‘What’s the use of being opened if they never have anything’, my son had the same thought as I did. And it’s not as if they bothered to make any more donuts. Unless you went right when they opened at 7,00, you will have a difficult time getting what you want. So, we decided to stop by another place closer to our home, where we found something for all of us.

Since we knew the girls wouldn’t arrive until at least half an hour, and since we hadn’t eaten breakfast, we sat outside on the balcony and devoured our cream-filled donuts. With Croatian coffee. When the girls arrived, they ate their donuts and then went into what is now Sage’s bedroom to find something to do.

The living room was in a state of having furniture occupy the large space needed for playing the VR game that my older daughter wanted to play, so the girls decided to watch something on the Apple TV in their brother’s room. Sage called his friend John and played a VR game in his room which required a smaller area of space.

In the meantime, I spent the next couple of hours making the various foods the girls liked. I first made the spaghetti sauce, then the chocolate pillow cake, and then meatless loaf. I also peeled and cut the gold potatoes into cubes for mashed potatoes and set a large pot of water on the stove to boil for the pasta.

From time to time, I would notice my younger daughter walking around the apartment with odd requests.

‘Do you have a bow?’, Cinnamon asked after she had her brother put on her green dress.

‘Sorry, I don’t’, I replied.

‘What about a shorter skirt or anything else’, she continued.

‘I have nothing’, I let her know.

I didn’t mind their playing dress-up. It was not as if they had never done this before. When they were much younger. Still, I was happy that they were happy. And silly.

When everything was finally prepared, we all sat down to enjoy a meal together. It was a bit like old times. But it wasn’t, as the girls would return to the other home.

After dinner, we went our separate ways for a short while before taking Cinnamon to the high school to get ready for the dance performance tonight. Then we drove her sister home. Out of the 20 or so dances, Cinnamon’s team performed only one dance. A dance they did very well.

Two and a half hours later, my son and I made our way to the front of the school to catch up with Cinnamon. She was ready and waiting for her father to make his way down the queue to collect her. When we spotted him, my son took the time to discuss plans for tomorrow with a promise of a phone call in the morning.

Though the girls ate little of the food that was made, it was worth the time and effort for us all to be able to sit at the table together. It was also quite entertaining to watch them find something else to do with their time. The makeup that Cinnamon applied on her brother’s face was well done. They all seemed to enjoy that and the mini photo shoot on the balcony.

As we go through life, we find ourselves constantly adjusting to new information. We see that things can be done in different ways yet still bring joy to our lives. It’s not a matter of reliving the past, but of finding new ways to make a better future with what we have available in the moment.