Dinner Guest #31 - The M. Family

Sunday, August 12, 2012

In my religion, at the age of 18, single men and women have the option to attend Sunday services at a church designated for singles only.  It is known as,

THE SINGLES WARD

This label is not to be confused with Montgomery Ward retail stores, a psychiatric ward, nor does the building contain people who have been declared a “ward” of the state. The primary goal of a Singles Ward is to help single people meet and eventually get married.

I suppose it’s not the most romantic answer to the question,

“So, how did you two meet?”

I would love to say,

“Well, I worked at the toll booth on Highway 21 for three years and every day Ryan would pass through my lane in his beat up Toyota truck, hand me a dollar, smile, and drive on through.  One morning, instead of a dollar, he passed me an antique, porcelain hand mirror with the words etched into the glass that read, ‘You have the face of an angel, will you marry me?’, and the rest is history!”

The simple truth is, singles wards are the breeding ground of many marriages including Mr. and Mrs. M. and, well… us!

This Sunday we invited the M. Family to dinner:  Mr. M., Mrs. M., and their three beautiful daughters.  I served grilled chicken and vegetable kabobs, au gratin potatoes, sweet potato casserole, and watermelon.  Mr. M. made an amazing gourmet green salad.  For dessert, Mrs. M. brought some tasty vanilla and chocolate-filled cream puffs and I served blueberry cream pie.

After the meal, the kids ran through the house shooting Nerf guns and playing hide-and-go-seek.  We parents sat around the glass kitchen table swapping stories from our Singles Ward days and playing an informal game of “Where Are They Now” with the names of old friends.  I admire Mr. and Mrs. M. for many reasons.  Mr. M. has survived a long, rocky road in his career in real estate and keeps plugging away when thousands have left the industry.  Mrs. M. has amazing leadership qualities I’ve observed first hand in church-related service organizations. She is an organized, industrious woman with a warm smile.

Singles Wards are often scoffed and lampooned as a group of social misfits unlucky in love.  I suppose couples like Mr. and Mrs. M and us would be considered graduates of the Singles Ward program.  Misfits or not, I cannot judge objectively, but this I know, after thirteen-plus-years:

We’re all still married….