Family Dinner

My Family Dinner When I was a kid, we had a family dinner, sort of. I remember my dad having dinner with us when I was very young.It was maybe even before Ruth and Eric were born. Then as I got older my dad would finish work later and later, until he never made family dinner except on the occasional Sunday family dinner we had. When Teri and I adopted the girls we made family dinner a big part of the day. It was something she grew up with and I as I said above sort of did too. As the girls got older and were working part time jobs that started in the late afternoon and didn’t end until 10-11 O’Clock at night, family dinner looked like it would die like most modern American family dinners. When the girls got full time jobs and were home around five, family dinner made a comeback. Sean joined us recently as a regular and on some nights, from his expression and his head in his hands and the smile on his face there have been some nights where he might have wished he was not there.

Last night, like most nights conversation, I don’t know how it got to where it did, but I was the brunt of the abuse. I think it started with Teri and I talking about the person who had the last accident. I’ve waited years for this conversation because, even though it was like eight years ago, Teri is the last one to have an accident. So the conversation then veers towards how aggressive a drive I have been and remain over the years. Teri tells the story where I’m trying to pass a person on the right on Rt 59 in Nyack. Nastia tells the stories of how I blew off a person with the finger and sped around them , yes again on the right.The next story got a big laugh and happened in the Target parking lot. I don’t remember how it started but this woman did something that caused me to start cursing her out and she goes, “Nice talk in front of your daughter” implying Nastia is some young kid, who hasn't cursed like a truck driver since we've known her. I think this all started because Nastia said she is a good driver. This conversation is definitely a step up from talking about bodily functions and sex. It has always been a no hold barred time when we sit down to dinner. Almost everytime we do Teri is telling someone to put down their cell phone. On nights like this I’m glad everyone does. This is what makes family dinners special and prized. Some of the girl's friends don’t have or value family dinners. You just need to see things from someone else's eyes sometimes. It’s like the time Jessica (not the one with the child, Elena’s best friend) walked out to our backyard and said,”wow”. I’ve never seen the yard the same way since. Before she walked out the door that day I saw a pool, a trampoline and a yard that needed to be better tended. After that it is all different, special. Still not perfect, but more appreciated.