Long Live Family Dinner

One day I was out "thrifting" and noticed this plate (pictured above) was for sale. It immediately took my mind back to when we had family dinner when I was a kid. We had a complete dishware set in this design when I was a kid! The plate for sale was a single item, but I couldn't help but wonder if this was one of the plates from our set. I got so excited, I had to have it - so I bought it for 25 cents! It might sound silly but this plate brought back a lot of fond childhood memories.

I come from a large family and one of my favorite family traditions is...FAMILY DINNER, of course! Family dinner is usually a Sunday affair. Yes we get together for birthdays and holidays (and any other random time...lol), but there is just something special about Sunday Family Dinner. My family is so big that we never had the traditional experience of us all sitting at one table, and asking to pass the potatoes, etc. Instead, you fix your plate in the buffet line in the kitchen and find a seat wherever you can fit (smile)!

It's a time to catch up on what everybody has been doing all week long and talk about our plans for the coming week. One second we hear the kids arguing, and in the next second their overwhelming laughter because on top of being family, they truly are best friends. It's a time where advice is given whether it's asked for or not, because folks have been around a lot longer than you so you just have to listen. Who's gotten taller? Who's getting good grades? Who are you dating? Because no questions are off limit! We tell jokes, we share recipes and we voice our opinions. The discussions that take place are truly entertaining. We also have the TV watchers, the ones who like to nap, and in the midst of all of this, anything else can be going on from playing outside, to getting your hair styled/cut, to singing, to some serious competition in a game of some sort. My favorite part is hearing the same family stories that STILL have us in a roaring laughter, like it was the first time we've heard those stories. Those stories will only be passed down as long we continue to tell them.

All these things are what memories are made of! Family traditions are important because they keep families together. If you don't have a family tradition, I urge you to start one today! I sincerely hope that the next generations of my family will keep the same fervor of family togetherness as we have today. Of course we love each other, but there's nothing like getting together with some good food. So to that I say...LONG LIVE FAMILY DINNER! :-)