A Vow to Cherish Read Free

rinsed the dishes while Jana loaded the dishwasher.
    “I’m glad you and Mark decided to stay overnight,” Ellen said, handing Jana an oval platter that had held sandwiches an hour earlier.
    “Oh sure,” Jana teased. “You’re just happy to have help with the dishes.”
    Ellen smiled. “Well, that, too. But seriously, I know it means a lot to Kyle to have you and Mark here tonight.”
    “I’m glad we stayed, too, Mom. It’s been a fun evening. We would have been too tired to drive back tonight anyway.”
    The two worked in comfortable silence for a while. Then Jana turned to Ellen. “Didn’t Kyle look cute up there tonight? I just can’t believe my baby brother has graduated!”
    “I know. I can’t believe my baby boy is headed to college.”
    Just then Kyle popped in through the back door.
    Ellen winked at Jana. “And speaking of my baby, here he is, just in time to help with the dishes.”
    Kyle did an abrupt about-face and tried to escape through the still-open door. But his sister grabbed him by the arm and dragged him, kicking and howling, back into the house. Ellen watched their lighthearted exchange wistfully. It was so good to have everyone home together—just like old times.
    The rest of the men straggled in from outdoors. John came up behind Ellen at the sink and rubbed her aching shoulders.
    Her hands still in dishwater, she closed her eyes, relishing the massage. “Mmm…Don’t stop…that feels great. But you guys picked a bad time to come in.” She lifted a hand from the warm water and tossed a damp dishrag over her shoulder in Brant’s direction. “Here…Wipe that counter off, will you?”
    Brant wadded the rag into a wet ball and threw it at Kyle, who, in turn, lobbed it across the room to Mark. Even John got in on the game of “hot potato” until things got so rowdy that Ellen—only half kidding—scolded them. “Hey, you guys! Cut it out!”
    John took charge. “Come on, guys. Let’s help your mother out. It’s been a long day.” He motioned to the dining room. “Brant, will you get those leaves out of the table? And, Kyle, you can carry these folding chairs out to the garage.”
    They cooperated, though not without some good-natured protests. Twenty minutes later, the kitchen was spotless, and Brant and Kyle were raiding the refrigerator for a midnight snack.
    Kyle held up a leftover corner of his thickly frosted graduation cake, covered with foil. “Anybody care if I finish this off?”
    Ellen huffed out a short breath of air. “As long as you wash your dishes when you’re through.”
    Kyle rummaged in a drawer for a fork, then came over to where Ellen was standing. He leaned his elbow heavily on her shoulder, using her for a table while he polished off the cake in four man-sized bites. He was a head taller than his mother and outweighed her by at least seventy pounds. This was her baby! It didn’t seem possible!
    “Good party, Mom…thanks,” he mumbled through a mouthful of frosting.
    “It was fun, wasn’t it?”
    “Did you get some good pictures at graduation, Dad?”
    Ellen intercepted the question. “Yeah, very funny, Kyle. So help me, if you’re grinning like Howdy Doody in all your pictures, I’ll wring your neck!” She demonstrated just how she would do it. Kyle grinned and ducked out of her grasp and ran up the stairs two at a time.
    “Good night, everybody,” he hollered down behind him. “Thanks for all the loot…”
    “You’re welcome…. Good night, Kyle,” Mark and Jana said in unison.
    “Good night, honey…love you,” Ellen said, a lump thickening her throat.
    Oh, how she would miss that boy!
     
    John and Ellen stood in the driveway watching Kyle’s little Toyota round the curve and disappear out of sight.
    John sighed. New Mexico was too far away, but in just a few weeks Kyle would be closer to home in Urbana. He found himself smiling in spite of the poignancy of the moment. It had been a tearful, but joyful, goodbye. Kyle’s