By Dianne Bonecutter Garrett
Contributing Columnist
Did you know that August is National Family Meal Month? The purpose is to encourage families to sit down together at least once a month to share a meal. That would not have flown at my house growing up.
My family of three ate dinner every night together. When we moved to a bigger house, we had a formal dining room. My folks bought a beautiful dining set for the new space. Our kitchen table was for breakfast and lunch. Every evening we ate dinner and shared the day’s events. I could not ever imagine not having that time with my parents. Some people have family meetings. We usually solved everything over dinner. It was the same for most of my friends.
When I got married my husband, step-son and I ate dinner together every night. Sometimes school or sports activities altered that schedule. After 34 years we still eat dinner at the dining table. Sometimes one of us may have a meeting or somewhere to be. Then we are on our own.
I believe this should still be a family tradition when possible. People who do shift work cannot always do family dinners. Understandable.
And now there’s the obsession with devices. It saddens me when I’m in a restaurant, see a family together, but they are on their phones instead of talking to each other. We used to have our pre-teen grandson over night. He would come to lunch or dinner with his phone. He was told to either turn it off or set it aside until the meal was over. It was hard for him to understand since there were no rules at his house.
I am always happy when I notice a family at a restaurant enjoying their time together, minus devices. I will occasionally stop by their table as I leave to compliment them. Every time the parents beam with pride thanking me. So I don’t care if you cook a gourmet meal, grab fast food or pizza. Try to sit down together as often as possible. Talk to each other. I can still remember some of the sage advice I received from my folks at the dining table.
Many will remember the enamel and chrome tables from the 1940s and 1950s. I still have the red table I grew up with. The formal set was sold with that house. I wonder if they still have it. When I look at it, I can envision my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends gathered there. I cherish those memories, and hope you are making your own dinner time memories with your family.
