Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Table

As we get ready for gatherings and dinners, I think back to mealtime at the ranch where I grew up.  The kitchen was a bright cozy room, dominated by the wood/coal cook stove.  It was the only room in the house with painted walls.  Sometimes the wall behind the stove was a sunny yellow, but more often a light olive green.  Separating the kitchen from what we would today call the great room, were upper cabinets with glass doors on the dining room side, and solid doors on the kitchen side.  All our dishes and glasses were stacked there. There was a pass through with sliding doors and lower cabinets with openings on the kitchen side.

The table in the dining room side was a long plank table, sanded smooth and varnished.  It easily sat eight. The table was surrounded by mismatched wooden chairs, some given to us by neighbors, others salvaged from old houses, but each one painstakingly sanded and refinished.  Every meal the table was set with dishes and silverware--fork to the left of the plate, then the knife and spoon to the right.  At breakfast there was always a mug for Mom and Daddy's coffee, and a cup and saucer at night for tea.  A napkin was placed under the fork.


When the table was set, Mom would place the food on the pass through and we would place it on the table.  After everyone had washed their hands, we all sat down, and after a prayer, enjoyed our meal together.  The talk would be about what was going on in our world.  All of us joined in this conversation.  In the evening, there was a dessert, with a little more talking, then the table was cleared and dishes washed and dried.  Life centered around the table.  It was where we voiced our dreams, discussed our problems, and expanded our thinking.  We came together as a family and for just a time shut out the distractions of the outside world.



9 comments:

  1. Sounds like a wonderful table to grow up around!

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  2. You allowed me to go back in time...the time of family and the kitchen table. We did the very same [tho we didn't have a 'pass thru'] --the table was huge, sometimes with extra card table chairs squeezed in for more than 8 at a time. The meals were hot, delicious and cooked with love and care. And oh....the conversations to be heard. Yes, indeed...a time of reminiscing you've created for those of us who stop by today.

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  3. I love sitting around the table sharing a meal and conversation with my family or friends. Nice post!

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  4. The dining room tables in my Nonna's house and in My Great-Grandmother's houses were like that. Visiting was sitting around the table and talking with coffee. Noni's table was also the center for card games with friends or games with her grandkids. Beautiful memories. Thanks!!

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  5. Wow, if only that table could talk....maybe that's where we get the word "table-talk"! Wonderful Memory!

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  6. Family dinners like you describe continue to be very important to me. It's our time to reconnect as a family...and I cherish that!

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  7. I love this! People are so busy they don't take the time to eat together any more. I think this is wonderful and it takes me back in time...Ahhhh...those years ago....Love your blog..Happy new Year!

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  8. Thank you for this...Our family just moved to eating in our dining room each night...where our picture window makes us visible to those driving by...and I notice them gazing in....and I hope it causes them to ask questions...to ask us what that "Jesus glue" is that holds our little family together around the table.

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