SAHM I am by Meredith Efken

other young families in the church, but then I remembered—we ARE the only young family at church.
    I complain too much. Jonathan had a counseling session yesterday with a woman whose husband is abusing her. My sweetie is trying to help her see that she needs to take the children and get to a safe place, but she thinks “tomorrow” her husband will change. And I’m whining about worn-out videotapes.
    Now Julia’s beating on the door with…a doll, I think. I can hear the eyes rattling in the head every time she yanks it back for another go. Why is it that there are no books on anger management for 2-year-olds?
    I’m sorry, Zelia. I’ve just reread this letter and realized I’ve made it all about my problems instead of yours. I will pray for you and Tristan. Maybe God is creating a new path for you both.
    Love,
    Phyllis

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From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Thomas Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: Next Weekend?
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    Tom,
    You were supposed to help me clean the house this weekend! For Thanksgiving, remember? Everyone is going to be here in just over a week! What do you expect me to do—take care of it all on my own? Oh, wait, I do that all the time. Never mind, no problem.
    Dulcie

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From:
The Millards
To:
“Green Eggs and Ham”
Subject:
Re: Bad fight…
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    Z,
    Can’t write long—taking Tyler to the doctor to see why his leg is hurting. I’m getting worried. Just wanted to let you know I care and I hope you can work this conflict out with Tristan. Keep trying! I’ll be praying…
    Jocelyn

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From:
Thomas Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
This Weekend
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    Great—then you don’t need me anyway. Not that this comes as a huge shock to me. I always suspected it. My amazing wife—completely self-sufficient: needs nothing, wants nothing, accepts nothing. I guess I’ll see you at Thanksgiving.
    Tom

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From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
Thomas Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: This Weekend
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    I absolutely REFUSE to comment on your e-mail. If you have something to say, you can come home and say it in person—what a concept! But I’m not going to carry on some dumb e-mail argument. Especially when you are deliberately twisting my words!
    I do need you this weekend! I need you every weekend. You have no idea how long the weeks get without you around. I nearly kill myself trying to keep everything under control around here, so that when you come home, we can spend time with each other. But you take every opportunity to be gone!
    So, no, I’m not going to respond to your e-mail. It was sarcastic and childish and completely out of context. I have nothing at all to say about it. But I do have needs and wants. And if you can’t see that, well, it’s not my fault.
    I don’t want to discuss this in an e-mail, except to say that if that’s what you really think—you’re completely wrong.
    And don’t you DARE comment about the house or dinner or anything for Thanksgiving. I’m not going to knock myself out trying to do everything by myself. I’ll get done what I can, and if it’s not how you like it, we both will know why. But I won’t go THERE right now—we reallyneed to talk while you’re home. You WILL be home through the weekend, right?
    Dulcie

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From:
Thomas Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry
Subject:
Re: This Weekend
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    AUTOMATIC RESPONDER MESSAGE FOLLOWS: Hello,
    Thank you for your e-mail. I will be out of the office November 20-21 and 25-26. I will make every effort to reply quickly when I return.
    Sincerely,
    Thomas Huckleberry, consultant
    CorTech, Inc.

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From:
J. Huckleberry
To:
Dulcie Huckleberry