Matchmaking Mom
By J.T. Marie
It’s a little after ten o’clock on Tuesday evening. My husband’s pulling a late shift at the hospital, and both my children are upstairs in their bedrooms—both are teenagers, so they don’t have to be in bed yet, but they have to be getting ready. School starts so early, and five A.M. comes around soon enough. It’s just me and the dog in the kitchen; I’m at the table, sipping a last cup of coffee for the day, and Maggie’s stretched out on the floor in front of the dishwasher, dozing to the soft sounds of the dinner plates being rinsed. The only light on is the one above the stove, but it’s bright enough I can easily see the puzzle book open in front of me.
In the silence around me, my hectic day at the office slips away.
Then I hear the tell-tale creak of t
