The Sunday Dinner

I remember them at Aunt Emma's after Church on Sunday when three generations gathered around the massive table in the dining room. And being good southerners, the conversation was not artificially interrupted just because one had food in one's mouth! I remember at the St. Paul's parsonage where sometimes we'd have four generations at the table: Nana visiting (and our table comes from her family, where again, generations have sat at it), maybe Aunt Sandy, Opa and Jo, us and the kids. Joyous times indeed. And here we are now. It's not all the family (sniff, sniff; missing the Herberts), but right now our usual is Opa and Lois (generation 1), Cindi and I (generation 2), David and Meaghan, Andy and Bekah (generation 3) and three of our grandchildren: Lydia, Henry, and Oliver (generation 4). With Oliver still in a high chair, I'm already puzzling my grinchy puzzler over how to make us all fit together when we're done with that (and we almost are). Maybe back to using Grandma Bess's bench with the children and an adult consigned to it. Anywho, most every Sunday, following Divine Service and Bible Class, you'll find us together fixing and feasting on a massive breakfast. We've sort of settled into a routine: we supply the sausage (2 lbs), bacon (2 lbs) and some 22 eggs, (and today we even had some roasted sweet taters), David and Meaghan bring along supplies to make breakfast burritos (for the carb lovers), Lois adds a grace note or two (today some fresh Caprese and some grapes for the kiddos). And it almost always completely vanishes! And, just like I remember from Richardsville, we're LOUD. I think it took Lois a while to realize that in this household, you just have to keep getting louder and more insistent. Somehow it all seems perfect, and this weekly time together is something I treasure more than words can tell. A weekly face off of four generations with stories and remembrances and crazy ideas all floating about over delicious food and drink (coffee for Lois, Andy, Cindi and me). It seems the perfect way to wrap up the Sunday morning!