That Evening

Hair freshly washed and braided, showered and dressed in the lovely red dress my mum brought me years ago, I stepped out into the living room, surrrounded by Mark's family.
It was clear that my mum was not comfort with Mark's family. This is not a quiet brunch of folks and this is not something we are use to. I come from a small family and not givven to being loud. I was thankful Mark's mum was willing to speak to mummie
The tension was clearly in the air. This was more than Mark and Laini wishing for the families to meet. There was a feel of "is there an annoucement coming?"
And the only one unaware of the tension was Mark.
So, for the first time, we shared Shabbath with our family.

First, Mark shared the evening blessing.

Then, I explained what I was about to do, then lit the candles and said the blessings for the lights and a special blessing since this was a special time ( Mark said the blessing over the Challah (which everyone loved) and then supper.
Mummie asked if I made collard greens. Well, Mark's dad sat straight, "collards?"
It seem that my mum isn't the only one who loves collards.
It was a nice evening, and no there was no annoucement of an engagment.
Mark went to lay down, leaving me to entian for the rest of the evening. My buddie David got Mummie home and it was clear she was not impress with Mark's family. This, I did not expect.
Later, after everyone went home and Mark got up to help me clean up, he thanked me for all that I done.
Frankly, I too was hoping for more.