Dinner For One

Before I began my four days of anger, I had spoken with my mom (I called her) and she told me that her brother, my Uncle Lynn, lived nearby. She gave me his phone number and encouraged me to ask him over for dinner. I felt a little weird about calling an uncle I barely knew and asking him to dinner like it was a date or something. I remembered as a child I thought he was funny and I had seen him last fall at my cousin's wedding reception.

I called him up and asked him over for dinner Easter weekend. It was convenient for me since Angie's family would be out of town (visiting SLC without me!) and I would be house and pet sitting. We texted a bit and agreed on Saturday night.

I am not much of a cook so I bought a frozen family style dinner, salad, potato rolls, and watermelon. I had everything cooked and set out on the table by 6pm when he was due to arrive. I added Andies mints to the table for a little dessert. At 6:05 I texted my Uncle to let him know that he could park in the driveway if he wanted (Parking is limited on our street and we are in the cul de sac where it's a red zone to park).

Shortly after my phone rang. It was Uncle Lynn. He sounded frustrated and apologized but said he couldn't make it. He explained that he just found out that his granddaughter has a tumor. He suggested we reschedule and that was that.

I stared at the dinner on the table sadly, wishing that he had at least called earlier so I wouldn't have gone to all this trouble for nothing. At least it was for a good reason and I can't be mad about that. I wasn't hungry yet so I petted the dogs and turned on the television. Eventually I ate some of it and then cleared everything away.