Food…

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly…

I wish I could claim to be the author of the quote but I borrowed it  from the website of one of my favorite restaurants, Monarch, but it works so well for what I want to say this week.Food is such an integral part of the human experience and it is core to our socializing and spending time together as friends, colleagues and most importantly, as family. How you spend your mealtimes can impact your life in very positive or on the flip side very negative ways (like eating lunch at your office desk!) Some of the best memories I have are times spent sharing meals with friends and loved ones, it is a way to bond and connect and enjoy being together. I see dinner time as a way to reconnect with the boys after a crazy day.

My own family growing up was rattled by my father sustaining disabling injuries in an accident when I was 12 and he was only 39; he spent the next twenty years of his life in and out of the hospital and there were spans of time when we did not see him because of his surgery schedule. But as he did regain his health and some of his mobility, he rallied to keep us from drifting apart and the core of that effort came by bringing us all home for dinner every night. It wasn’t just the being together at the table that mattered to him, it was the conversation and the stories that mattered. I remember not wanting to come home for dinner every night when I was in high school but being told it was a requirement. Of course, I resented it but only a few years later when I was in college, I longed for those nightly family meals. Having that foundation, helped me as I created my own. Cooking meals became very important and sharing meals, essential.

Now, dinner can be a crazy time, sometimes I rush home and we eat quickly and hit the road again to go to an activity or one of my meetings. I would say we get an average of four to five good at-home dinners together in a week and I enjoy this time so much. When I cannot be there with them, I make sure there are plates of home-cooked (or semi home-cooked) food for them and I have to say (at the risk of tooting my own horn) that I have done well in this arena; I cannot remember the last time I swung by Steak n’ Shake to get their dinner when we had other evening activities. Nothing compares to sitting at the table with them as they tell me about their day and the things they want to do. I get to hear what the best super hero costume would be (superheroes shouldn’t wear capes, did you know that?) and I get lectured on the mysteries of the universe and then, I sometimes get the questions I cannot answer! The jokes, the stories, the editorial comments are all priceless and I savor them as much as I do the meal. Noah, as I have mentioned, is very interested in cooking and helping me make dinner is something he always does willingly. He made turkey meatballs one night with his own two little hands and my minimal coaching. He beamed with pride as we all dug in, “compliments from the chef!” he said.