Dishes

Last night I had a great dream. I was 12 years old and babysitting my nieces and nephews at my sister's old house in South Ogden. It was after lunch and the dishes were piled high in the sink. I pulled out the rubber gloves and the dish rack to start washing. I washed each dish by hand....the majority of the dishes were cereal bowls and spoons. (I think that is still a favorite in their house.) I washed each dish and placed them in the drying rack. Then, I started drying them and put them away so that both the counter and the sink were clean. And then, I woke up.

Now this wasn't so much a dream, as it was me dreaming of a memory. For 2 summers I played with my nieces and nephew while their parents worked during the day. And washing the dishes happened daily in their small kitchen. At the time I remember thinking that it would have been really nice and convenient to have a dishwasher but still, the fact of the matter was that the dishes needed to be washed. And someone had to wash them. Since then life has changed a lot. My sister and her family moved to a new house. One with a dishwasher. And I eventually moved away as well to a house with a dishwasher. Not that the dishwasher is important, but it is a symbol of a change. That old way of life is no more. I don't have to wear gloves and use scalding hot water to clean each dish. All I do is put the dishes in the washer and an hour later put them away. Simple. Easy. But somehow this simple and easy lifestyle has developed into something very different and somewhat complicated in my life and the life of my sister. No, not all bad but not all good either. Just a completely different life.

Today I am thankful that I had the simple memory dream of washing dishes at my sister's old house in her tiny hallway kitchen. I am thankful for the fun and simple times of the past. I am hopeful for the future and hope I will always appreciate the good and the bad. One day things won't be as they are now. They might be better. They might be worse. I don't know. But I do know that right now I am enjoying where I am and I hope you are too.