Love was Served Nightly

For as long as I can remember, our family sat down to a family dinner every night. Even when we worked after school, we still managed to sit down together for our evening meal. Dad was a route salesman back then, and he would still be home every night. He had to make the post office mail deadline for his daily orders, so we ate after this task was completed. 

I enjoyed spending time with my family to share our days and catch up on our family happenings. When Michael and I had our son, Matt, we decided to continue the tradition. Mom lived with us, and her presence with us to share this time felt important and brought us closer together.  

When Marr was in his teens, he played a variety of team sports. He often had games and practices that ran late, so we would adjust dinner time accordingly..

One year during hockey season, one of Matt’s friends joined us at the table. The next night, Blake was back, and this continued for a series of dinners. I always welcomed friends at the table. After an extended number of dinners, we asked him what was up. 

He explained that his family did not eat together. He further explained that they didn’t have a dining room table. He went on to explain how much he enjoyed eating together as a family. Blake was an outgoing person and enjoyed sharing and catching up with us. 

Several weeks after this streak had slowed down, I ran into Blake’s Mom. She thanked me for welcoming him to our dinners. She said he had come to her and asked if something ever happened to them, could they please let the Goodson family adopt him?  

I don’t think he was serious, but we had a good laugh about his request. 

Looking back, it wasn’t the food that mattered most. It was the togetherness. And that’s a tradition I’ll always cherish.

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