My parents have been married for 59 years as of today. They have recently (well, within the past year) moved to Iowa City and I have seen more of them in that time than I have in the past twenty years combined. There are a lot of nice things about having them near by, but one of them is that my kids have the chance to spend a lot more time with them than they ever have. We have meals together on a regular basis, and while I would have rolled my eyes at the idea of a weekly family dinner when I was young, it now seems quite nice to me. Does that make me officially old? I think so. I have become my great-grandmother. I really need to start foraging for food and canning again, but otherwise I am already walking in her metaphorical footdteps.
Family meals give us a chance to catch up on what has been going on and anytime you put 8-12 people around a table it feels festive. The other opportunity it affords it to put a nice meal on the table at least once a week. That could be a blessing or a curse, but it is a very welcoming crowd that allows for missteps in the kitchen, so the bar is not high to please people, and if something is a complete flop, we move on. No harm, no foul. My eldest son and his wife will soon be moving away, and I will definitely miss them, and their additions to the Sunday night menu.
That is a fine looking dog in that picture!
ReplyDelete