A Thought About Love #3 — Sudoku, After Everything Else

We walk in the door,
and our older son heads out to the gym.

I fold laundry.
My wife starts dinner.

"Let's hurry and go for a walk."

A load of whites goes back in the wash.
Doing the dishes, I say, half-joking,

"What if he walks in and wants dinner too?"

Sure enough, he does.

"What do you want to eat?"
"Meat. And spaghetti."

My wife goes back to the kitchen.
I wash the pots,
then the dishes, again.

"God, this is a lot.
It's not even a holiday."

We finally finish, and hurry out the door.

"Let's go, quick —
if our younger one gets home first, we're stuck again."

· · ·

But once we're outside,
we're both too worn out.

We walk for a while,
then start to run, once it feels okay.

Afterward, walking the last kilometer home,
we talk about the day.

Nothing important.

But I can tell —
her mood has lifted.

And I like
watching her like that.

Maybe that's what doing things together is.
Whatever it is you do,
the tiredness slowly
turns into something calmer.