My Life Has a Superb Cast

February 23, 2026

Lenten Reflections #5

Last week, Cora texted her brothers: “When are you coming home next?”

Friday rolled around, and I heard the rumble of Dexter’s truck in the driveway. He was home for the weekend.

Then, early Saturday morning, Zavier soared through the door, yelling, “Hey, Fam!”

Exhale. All home.

Cora had asked, and here they were.

It reminded me of when the kids were younger, and Cora would direct the boys in several plays they created. Sometimes she was the police officer, and they were the deputies in a big sting operation, or they were headline performers for a Christmas show. Cora would choose the songs, and the boys followed directions and sang the five holiday songs they almost knew the words to, multiple times. They threw on bonnets for Little House on the Prairie reenactments, performed Baptisms for every doll in the house, and took their bows one show at a time.

Everything went smoothly until it didn’t. Without fail, lyrics would go awry – a dreidel would get mixed into Rudolph’s Reindeer games, the dogs would drink the baptismal water during the doll ceremony, or potty talk would slide its way into a script, the boys laughing hysterically along the way until Cora would shut down the entire show.

But this weekend, they accepted their casting calls and showed up when asked.

Before I knew it, clean laundry was packed up, I wrote them each a little note, and their cars rumbled away. It was a wonderful weekend.

What I learned: