One of these days, I am going to have to learn to cook. Cook, as in learning to skin and de-bone a chicken and no longer rely on 1 of the 10 recipes I know. Fine, maybe of the seven recipes I know.
I called my mom. "I want to learn how to make chicken soup from scratch."
"I haven't made that in 10 years."
"Well I want to know."
So while Abraham was on the couch watching football over the weekend, I loaded up the Femme Fatale and drove to my mother's house.
We threw a chicken in a pot of boiling water and put a lid on it. I was off to a good start.
"Now what?" I asked.
"We wait an hour and a half."
"Oh."
I looked around the house. My mother doesn't use distractions: a TV playing in the other room, radio while she's driving, etc. It was just the two of us and the dog in silence.
"So I'm trying to rework my lease," I announced.
"Why?"
"Because it hasn't started yet and Abraham and I are talking about moving in together."
"Don't you want to wait for a commitment?" she snapped.
Oh, so I guess my prior experience wasn't just hard on me.
She went on to say the equivalent of the milk and the cow analogy. "By waiting to move in until you have a commitment, you're giving him an incentive to marry you."
"It isn't like that, mom."
Abraham and I talk about marriage every single day. We already know how we're going to handle finances and kids and childcare and spanking.
"He could change his mind, you know."
I knew she wasn't talking about my relationship with Abraham anymore. She was talking about her past marriages.
"I still want to renew my lease, but I think I'm going to do it for 6 - 8 months instead. Until next summer."
My mother relaxed, "Well you should know more about where things are heading by then."
She began grilling me about Abraham for the first time. She's seen how he's changed me (How? She never said), but how have I changed him? I don't know! I only know him when he was with me, not before me.
And while I'm counting my chickens before they hatch:
"Mom, I told him that if we get married, I'll convert to Judaism."
1:56 PM
3 weeks ago
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9 comments:
Perfect. One foul swoop. I suspect I may have to have a similar discussion with my family about conversion.
"One foul swoop." HAHAHA. I love!
Wow! So happy for you!
This so reminds me of Charlotte and the Sex and the City episodes where she converts.
LOVE IT. Good call on the lease too!:)
BOOM! Good for you, girl!
My mother is having a melt down right now over my med. school situation. I don't know you in real life, but I always feel like you appreciate the Having to Parent Your Parent situation. Anyway, that is to say: good for you for saying it how it is and not letting your mom project her past relationship issues onto you! It takes a lot to draw that line!
WOW! As a Jew, good that you are learning to cook chicken soup, it's sometimes referred to as Jewish penicillin....it fixes EVERYTHING.
I will say, it would be an absolute honor to have you join the tribe and making that sort of commitment for someone, that is truly love.
I have always read your beautiful words from afar and something does seem so different about this one. With all of your life experiences thus far, you have gotten to know yourself really really well. You took the time to make things make sense for you. When this happens then sometimes the love stuff can actually be easy! You must love yourself before anyone else can love you and you did your due diligence.
I'm routing for you!
Perhaps she means you've changed in a more settled down sense. Your stories have certainly changed, as before it was multiple dates (a given), training for runs, warrior dash, going out drinking, parties with friends, kickball, etc.
I'm not saying it changed in a bad way, as I enjoy reading progressing stories with you and Abe. Perhaps you still do all those things but don't write about them. It seems that your blog has also settled down from the single party gal to the happy in a relationship gal, and its interesting to see it from the outside "I don't know you in real life" perspective.
Chicken soup from scratch is pretty easy, but not necessarily worth all the trouble to make your own broth, IMO. However, I make broth and freeze it anyway, cuz I'm a hippie, and also cheap.
Hey! What happened next? Did you at least take a picture of her face?
LOVE!!!!
Have to say...your story that you are sharing with Abe made me reflect on the story that i wasn't telling with FilmGuy and how it's not what i want. I want a part of the relationship i have to have some of it to include the story that you are telling of you and Abe. Thanks Sarah!!!
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