racquetball

i have this memory from way back when Neil & i were dating...
We were at church one day and as an older man passed Neil he said, "Hey, Neil - are we on for racquetball this week?"
"For sure!" Neil smiled.
Really?
i looked at Neil & at the older man walking away & said to Neil, "You play racquetball with that guy?"
Neil smiled at me & said, "Nope. Never have - but he says that to me every single week."
Neil phoned me one day shortly after the world found out that as unmarried teenagers, we were expecting our first baby... He was laughing, "Hey, Paige, that guy finally called to get together..."
Like at this point - with no relationship - Neil was going to pour out his heart to him.
Over the years i have thought about that lack of relationship a lot.
Neil is a follow through person - i think i could have the tendency to be a lot more like the other guy. My actions falling far short of my intentions. i know it's impossible to be everything to everyone... But the memory of Neil's confidence in the fact that he would never be called for an actual game of racquetball made me pick up the phone when i wanted to push people away - it made me sneak into my girls' rooms to ask them what it was they had been trying to tell me before when i was too busy to hear it - it made me dig deeper into relationships when i felt like just letting them go.
In my most important relationships - i want to be the wife that follows through - the momma that remembers to ask how it went, the sister, daughter, auntie, friend & acquaintance that did what they said they would.