January 10, 1970

Now that Mom and Dad were fully recuperated from the back-to-back stresses of our wedding and Christmas, they turned their focus to our nearly-bare apartment in Champaign. Long ago they had asked if we wanted some of the furniture they couldn’t fit into their new, smaller home. We didn’t think twice.

Mom wrote that a small moving van would arrive by the end of the week. When the truck came, we couldn’t wait to see what was inside.

It turned out to be a table and chairs, a dining room “breakfront” with drawers on the bottom and shelves on the top, a couple of lamps, a set of book shelves, a plant stand, a living room chair with the promise of another one coming later, a round hassock, and an end table.

Mom also sent her sewing machine, just on loan, so I could make a few things – maybe a tablecloth and napkins (I was good at straight edges) and possibly some simple, A-line skirts.

Once we arranged all this furniture, our apartment began to look home-y. We decided to celebrate by inviting friends John and Cathy for dinner. Though I had no confidence that I could produce a good meal, I thought of a way to avoid cooking altogether.

We would unpack a couple of our new fondue pots, and each of us could use the long forks to cook our own. I did have confidence in my veggie-chopping/meat-cutting skills, so with a little hot oil in the pot, our guests could do the rest. Even dessert could be managed fondue-style with cut-up fruit and a pot of melted chocolate.

I bought some fabric and made a gold tablecloth (i.e. hemmed the edges and put a seam right down the middle). Napkins for each of us completed the set. Thanks to our generous wedding guests, we now had plenty of silverware, plates, and glasses. So setting the table for our very first company felt just like playing house.

The evening was a success, and the 4 of us sat at the table “cooking” for several hours – fun with fondue. Cathy and John had just put their wedding invitations in the mail the week before, and when they wished out loud for a fondue pot of their own, Nate assured them they’d have one by the end of the month. We’d received 5 of them, and if their wedding gifts didn’t follow suit, they could have a couple of ours.

Well after midnight, as Nate and I did the dishes, we rated the evening A+ and talked about who to invite next. Many of his law school friends were far from home and would love a home-cooked meal – even if they had to cook it themselves.

We had our doubts, though, about Nate’s parents, who planned to spend the last weekend in January with us. Would they embrace the fondue system? Nate suggested I make a more traditional meal, something nicer, but I wasn’t sure he knew the magnitude of what he was asking.

“Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” (1 Peter 4:9)