Sundays

Growing up, Sundays were considered sacred; no shopping, no working, no recreation, no exercising, 3 hours of church, meetings for callings, interviews with bishops, visiting teaching assignments, scripture reading, home teachers coming over....wait, does this sound like a day of rest? In any case, for me, it was just a normal part of life having grown up in the LDS church. Sundays just seemed like another busy day for me. Go to church, come home, and do the mounds of homework I had from high school. I remember sitting at that computer in Pop's study, writing several papers on Sundays......it was the only day I didn't have ballet practice. I remember getting ready for church, and Lisa, Laura, Mom, and I, waving goodbye to Pop as he stood on the doorstep. For Pop, Sundays were and still are days for catch up around the house. Even now, I call him to see how his Sunday is going, and he tells me that he cleaned the toilets (always), watered the lawn, did the laundry, cooked curry in the crock pot, and ran errands like going to Costco, and grocery shopping at Safeway. Nowadays it seems like he's working on Sundays as well (he says that's how we afford a back yard). We used to ask him why he didn't come to church with us, and he would tell us that Sundays were his days of rest from work, and that it was a day where he didn't want to sit quitely in a suit for 3 hours. He wanted to read his newspaper, get his hairs cut (as he says), do his shopping, and enjoy his wine. He was always kind about our home teachers coming over, and missionaries joining us for dinner. Sunday dinners were always a goofy time for the Tamakis. One of us would say the prayer (last one usually to say "not it"), and Pop would video tape it with his camcorder. He would sometimes chime in on our prayers and it would make us laugh (and Mom angry). Anyway, I still miss those Sundays in the Tamaki house. Everybody busy doing their own thing. Mom writing in The Book of Terry, Me doing my homework, Lisa talking on the phone to her thousands of friends, and Laura....not really sure what Laura always did (played with her hamster?) Anyway, Sundays for me are quite different now. I'm not waking up early, getting all dolled up for church, and doing a bunch of homework. Somehow, I've adopted more of Pop's outlook on Sundays. It's my day away from work, and a day to run errands, clean, and do those things which allow me to feel rested and rejuvenated to start another busy week. My idea of spirituality is to enjoy nature, set everything right that went awry during the week, read an uplifting book, write in my journal (The Book of Lani?), maybe go to brunch, and work out. Sundays to me are still sacred because I try to slow down and see what I can do to improve the week ahead. I still sometimes miss the routine of going to church and the fantastic dinners prepared by Mama Tamaki, but I am grateful for the memories and the chance I get to look back at these times with fondness. I do miss my family, and hope that some day, I can build a similar "bonding" atmosphere with my own family on Sundays.