One Tradition Leads to Another

    “Quiet down!” I yelled at my oldest daughter Anne, who is nine, as we got into the car.

    “But Tommy won’t leave me alone.” She whined as her six year old brother poked her.

    “Tommy, leave Anne alone. Anne quit whining.” I tell both of them and turn the music up as I pull out of the driveway.

    The last Sunday of every month, we have a family tradition. We always go to our local grocery store, get the groceries that we need, and then go get ice cream from the ice cream shop down the street. We eat the ice cream in the car and when we get home, we make chicken and baked potatoes and eat it while watching a movie. 

    Michael, my desisted husband, was teaching my oldest boy, Jake, who is sixteen now, to make the chicken before he passed away. Jake still makes the chicken every Sunday though in memory of Michael.

    We pull up to the store and head inside. I grab a shopping cart and turn it around so Jake can put Tommy in it but Jake wasn’t there. I look outside and see him running towards the store.

    “Sorry.” He said when he gets inside.”I was texting my girlfriend.”

    “It's okay.” I tell him as he sets Tommy in the cart.” I was just a little startled.”

    “Oh and speaking of my girlfriend, can her and her family come so you can all meet each other?” He asked. They had been dating for two weeks now but only Anne and Tommy have met her because of busy schedules.

    “Yeah, that sounds like fun, just make sure we have enough food, okay.” I tell him.

    “Okay, thanks.” He said and grabbed the cart from me.

    We finished all our shopping and headed to the ice cream shop. We went inside and we all got our normal orders. Tommy got twist ice cream in a cone, Anne got twist ice cream with gummy bears in a cup, Jake got an M&M blast and I got a cookie dough blast. 

    I paid for the ice cream and drove home. I pulled into the driveway around three oclock and we started unloading the groceries. When four oclock finally rolled around, Jake grabbed what he needed and started cooking. Most of the time it only took about an hour but with more food to cook this time, it took about an hour and a half.

    Jake had finished cooking dinner and was in the shower when the doorbell rang. I got off the couch, set my book on the coffee table and went to answer the door but Tommy beat me to it.

    “Hi Lizzy!” Tommy said excitedly.

    “Hi Tommy.” Lizzy, who I assume is Jake's girlfriend, said.

    I walked to the door and shooed Tommy off before greeting her.

    “Hi, I’m Amber, Jake's mom, you must be Jake's girlfriend.” I said and shook her hand.

    “Yes, it's so nice to meet you finally. I wanted to come the past few weeks but we have just been super busy.” she tells me.

    “No worry.” I tell her and look around,”Where are your parents? I thought they were coming?”

    “They are. They had to go get gas but will be here in a few minutes.”She explained.

    “Oh, no problem. How about you come inside. Jake is in the shower but should be out in a few minutes.” I tell her and lead her into the living room.

    “You have a beautiful home.” she told me and looked at the photos on the wall,” I’m sorry to hear about your husband. Jake talks very highly of him.”

    “Thank you.” I tell her and sit down on the couch right as Tommy comes running in.

    “Lizzy! Lizzy!” He said, jumping in excitement,”Come see my room.”

    “Lizzy looked at me and asked,”Is it okay if I go?”

    “Yeah, go right ahead.” I told her and Tommy grabbed her hand and led her down the hallway to his bedroom. I grabbed my book and was about to start reading when the doorbell went off again. I set my book back down and opened the door to see.

    “Henry?” I asked,” Is that you?”

    “Oh my gosh. Amber? Long time, no see.” He says.

    When I was in eighth grade, Henry moved to this town and we became friends fairly quickly. We were friends until freshman year when we started dating. We dated all the way until we were juniors when we decided we were better as friends and broke up. We stayed friends until the end of college when we both went our separate directions and lost contact.

    “Yeah, I guess it really has been a long time.” I tell him,” Around seventeen years now.”

    “Cool but how do you two know each other?” the women beside him asked.

    “Sorry honey.” He apologized,” Amber this is my wife Kelly. Kelly, this is one of my high school friends, Amber.”

    “It's very nice to meet you.” I tell her.

    “And you. You don’t even know how excited Lizzy has been to meet you. She hasn’t stopped talking about it.” Kelly tells me.

    “Well, come in.” I tell them and lead them to the living room

    “Is that chicken?” Henry asked,” Because if it is, it smells amazing.”

    “Yes. It was Micheals family chicken that we make the last Sunday of every month.” I tell him.

    “Oh, where is Micheal by the way?”

    “He passed away in a car accident last year.” I tell them, "And then we moved back here. I wanted to reconnect to old friends and live closer to my family.”

    “I’m so sorry. He was a good man.” Henry says.

    “That he was.” I say and wipe the tears from my eyes.” Now, enough with the sad talk. Let's eat chicken and watch movies.”

    I sent Anne to go get everyone and then started filling my own plate. Once everyone's plates were filled, we sat down and watched “The Croods”. By time the movie was done, Tommy was out like a light and Anne was close to passing out.

    I put them to bed and sat back down in the living room.  We all talked and caught up until ten o'clock, when Henry and Kelly decided it was time to go home.

    “Well, it was great meeting you.” I tell Lizzy.

    “You too.” she said and Jake walked her to her car.

    “It was also great meeting you and seeing you again.” I tell Kelly and Henry.

    “We have to do this again.” Kelly suggested.

    “Yes, we do.” Henry agreed,” How about the second Sunday of this month, you come to our house for dinner and a movie?”

    “That sounds amazing. See you then.” I tell them.

    And that is how we began a new tradition.

    Six years later, after Jake and Lizzy finished college and got married, Anne started high school, and Tommy had started middle school, we still met for dinner on the second and last Sundays of every month and now, Lizzy and Jake will be bringing a new member to our tradition. A baby boy.