This One's for Patrick

Most Wednesday nights, a group of people gets together at our house. They all go to our church, and they all live near us. The church's goal is to foster community - instead of assigning groups by life stage (college, singles, young marrieds, empty nesters), we more or less use geography.

Our group started getting together last fall, and we have had a few changes as people moved in and out of town, but there's me & John, another married couple, and a handful of 20-something singles at different post-college stages. Also in sporadic attendance are my 3 children.

9 years old, 5 years old, and 7 months old - a big slice of real life. Generally, the big kids eat dinner with everyone then go to bed (or at least upstairs) when the grownups have discussion time. Sometimes they behave - sometimes they literally run in circles through the hall, dining room and kitchen. ("But mooommmmm, it's a parade - we have to blow the whistles!")

One particularly trying evening, when the 4th - or maybe 14th - request for *something* came from the stairs, I used my best I-am-finished-with-you voice to say (loudly), "Go - to - bed - NOW!" Patrick, the 23 year old working in urban planning, sighed, shook his head and said, "I think I have a better idea of what my life is going to end up like than most of my friends."

This comic was in Sunday's paper - it reminded me of that evening. Patrick, I'm still sorry we had to tarnish the dream at your tender age.