A Life-Giving Surprise

I was pulling fresh vegetables out of the refrigerator to make a salad when my husband, Lynn, walked into the kitchen. “Let’s order out so you don’t have to fix dinner,” he suggested.

I was grateful for the offer. We’d spent the afternoon going over bank statements, monthly expenses and budgets. I’d rarely been involved with those things because as a lawyer, Lynn had always handled all our financial matters. But the increasing limitations caused by his brain cancer were reshaping our responsibilities. My head was filled with jumbles of numbers and fears about my ability to handle these new realities. Maybe ordering out was a good idea.

And yet as I looked at the fresh vegetables, I realized something I hadn’t thought about before. Transforming vegetables into a big salad is life-giving for me. There’s something soothing about chopping a bright red pepper, slicing tomatoes, pulling apart a crisp head of lettuce and grabbing a handful of basil leaves from the potted plant on the counter. Maybe adding some leftover chicken. Making a salad feels like creating an artistic offering. Besides, it was exactly what I needed at the end of this kind of day.

“Thanks, but I really want to make a salad tonight,” I told Lynn. He nodded and headed to the couch as I contentedly started chopping.