Food, Family, and Fun
I’ve had a really good couple of days.
On Sunday, I went to a family reunion on my Dad’s side, which I hadn’t done in… hmmm… 12 years. Eeek.
After a ridiculously humid week, the heat finally seemed to ease up and the temperature was perfect. I even got to have some fun in the pool. I don’t think I’ve been swimming in years.
The food was also great. I went back for seconds with the baked macaroni and cheese… yum. I had a good visit with everyone, but got a stern lecture from my uncle for not visiting more often. I know, I know… I’ll do better.
Before heading back to Tennessee, my Dad took my to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. This DQ was the real deal. Everything about it felt authentically 1950s. We sat in a corner and talked for an hour. A really nice time.
Monday evening was yet another great time. Nathan came over and we went for a very long walk by the river. We shared life stories and talked about all kinds of random stuff. We came across a path of rocks that you could step onto and go right out into a shallow area of water. The view was beautiful.
After our walk, I took him to a nearby Japanese restaurant that we’d wanted to try. The service was extremely slow, but that was fine with us because we were talking non-stop for 2 hours.
I’m really growing to appreciate the value of food and its effect on relationships. I grew up in a household where it wasn’t a big deal if we didn’t eat dinner as a family. My parents certainly made an effort, but it wasn’t a rule.
This behavior carried into my adult life, and my partners and I have often skipped meals together. Or sometimes, we’d each fix our own food and just go to opposite places in the house, completely ignoring each other.
I think that’s common in many modern relationships, but eating together has become an extremely important aspect in my relationship with Nathan. No matter how busy we are, we try to make time to get together at night and eat together. We always have really deep conversations, and share stories, share feelings… All kinds of good stuff. It is not uncommon for a meal to go cold because we’ve talked so much.
This is such a Southern post, isn’t it? Well, I do think there is some significant value to eating together. Food, family, and fun has definitely been a winning combination lately.
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Yeah! It’s always good to go back and get to see friends and family!
I agree 100% percent about the food; it’s like something magical takes place, I don’t even know how, but it connects people and brings everyone together!!
DQ! My favorites are the Banana Cream Pie Blizzard (with chunks of pie crust in it!) or anything peanut butter and nuts.
PS….I remember in 1977 when the Peanut Buster Parfait debuted. For 79 cents…it was highway robbery.
We always ate together when I was a kid, well except for my Dad when he was working nights (cop). Bryan and I continue that and I think it’s an important part of our relationship. I cook dinner, we eat it together and then do the dishes together. Even when it’s just heating up left overs we eat them together… How middle America of us! XO
JoJo and I eat together every night. We talk about the day and it has become a time for us to be totally together. We have made it a habit to turn off our cellphones and turn off the TV during dinner at home. We play some nice “chill” music in the background and take our time.
Also, we clean up the kitchen together. It goes quicker that way.
NOW……as far as DQ !!!! It was the corn dogs and taco salad that always got me excited. Plus the M&M Blizzard.
I feel that family dinners have been very important in my life. Growing up, we had family dinner every nite. My parents’ job schedules allowed it, and they felt it was a priority. Those dinners, plus family camping trips every summer, kept us very close.
My parents continued the family dinners at least once a month after my brothers and I became “adults”, with the incredibly fun addition of grandchildren. My dad even continued them for a few years after our mom died.
Due to various circumstances, we no longer have the family dinners, and we are no longer a close family. I do believe that the regular contact of sharing a meal was essential for my family. Whatever stuff was going on in our separate lives, or between each other, we always had a time to reconnect with each other.
I really miss that.
I totally agree with you on the food thing. If a man prepares dinner for me, I’m hooked (especially since I can barely boil water)!
My partner and I always eat dinner together, and we’re not talking a meal just thrown together. This is mostly his doing and I guess he’s more Southern than I am. He has to have the meat, veggies, roll, drink and dessert. It’s a wonder I’m not as big as a house! I recognize it’s a comforting thing for him and makes him happy—and it makes me happy, too. Even if days are busy or we’re fighting, we always have that dinnertime to reconnect.