But Spot refused to put on her skirt. Instead, she insisted on wearing Susan’s shirt and her own blue jewelled flipflops. I tried to shame her into putting on her skirt by telling her I could see her diaper, but she was unashamed.

Which is why, at 12:53 pm, as we pulled into the church parking lot, I surreptitiously took one last (long) swig of my pre-church Mountain Dew.

A man pulled in next to us and got his three sons out of the car. Dick and I speculated later that his wife was terminally ill, or home with a fretful baby. Perhaps he works a hard job on third shift, then comes home in the early dawn to a messy home and three active boys.

Which is why he took one last (long) swig of his Red Bull, directed his son to bring it along, and warned: “Don’t drink all of it!”