Skip to main content

Around the Table


 

Last night, after much scheduling and rescheduling, my immediate family gathered to celebrate Father’s Day and my husband’s birthday. There were seven of us altogether, gathered at a big round table at the Flavors of India in Gateway. 

You may know what I mean when I say that getting the whole family together is a challenge once the kids have grown and flown. Add to that offspring who work in the restaurant business, or retail, or in theatre, and you might as well hire a scheduling assistant to make it work. At one point I despaired ever finding a date that everyone could agree on.

It was worth all the effort.

We ate early, due to various time constraints, so we pretty much had an area all to ourselves. It was peaceful, unrushed. Everyone could hear everyone else talk. There was room at the table to read birthday cards and pass them around, and the pacing allowed my husband the time to open presents. 

This isn’t a restaurant review, although the food was wonderful. It isn’t a treatise on the future of Gateway, although I almost got lost (yet again) trying to find my way out. 

It’s about the sheer joy of getting to be with one’s family and experiencing the reminder that these are people who “get” you and know your stories and foibles and love you anyway. Or maybe even because of all that. It’s about being grateful that your kids feel comfortable bringing people they care about into the family circle. 

The whole world has been pretty terrible lately and the recent news in the US terrifies me. Last night I experienced an hour or so of freedom at an Indian restaurant in Gateway where the food was delicious, the service was excellent, and the company was everything I needed it to be.

Whatever you do today, I wish you the kind of freedom that eases your heart and reminds you of the things you value the most.

What kinds of experiences do that for you? Share them. It will do us all good to learn from one another.


Village Green/Town² Comments




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more