There it stood 23 hours a day, a lonely piece of furniture. but that one hour of use surely made a difference in family unity. I truly believe what made America great in times past was that families actually ate together. I think back to some of the most memorable moments as a child, was right there with my family at that supper table. To me that was a big deal, bringing eight individuals together at once for dinner. Now there were a lot of nights I remember Dad getting home late from work. Mom would leave a plate on the stove for him but the rest of us would eat dinner together.
We would often greet dad as he got home from work and sit at the supper table with him as he ate. just to catch up with him.
What made those times so special? Well I am glad you asked. I think one of the things that made it special was that you could feel the love at that table. Whether it that feeling came from mom as she served a meal that she worked over or from people that just genuinely enjoyed being together I'm not sure. I just know without any hesitation of any doubt there was love there. There was always a thankful heart. I promise you, there was not any meal eaten with out thanking God for the food. It did not matter what we were eating. Mom and dad made sure we took turns so that everyone knew how to thank God. I recall some of those prayers got quite funny, with some extra requests. But we always prayed over the meals. Sometimes especially after church on Sunday you were starving and it seemed to me that who ever was the most long winded at praying and just saying a lot of words would be the person holding up the meal. I mean come on we are hungry just thank God for the food already. You know the type of prayer I am talking about. Our gracious Heavenly Father thank you for this day, thank you for the birds, thank you for the sweet bees. Than you Lord for the dirt and the little farms all across America thank you for the lakes........ You get the point. We would all be like that's great but we just spent 2 hours thanking Jesus for everything man. WE ARE HUNGRY!!!!!
Sorry I get grouchy when I am hungry.
Another thing that made the supper table so perfect is the conversations we had. Everyone had the chance to share. We would talk about our day. We would talk about life and family and values. We would hear stories about our parent's past. We would learn that apparently no matter how bad liver tasted we were expected to eat it. No amount of complaining mattered. It's good for you and you will eat it. Dad had to have his liver and onions once or twice a year. But we children were a unified front. We all went down kicking and screaming choking that horrible nasty meat down. The comments of those moments still crack me up to this day. Then there was my older brother who only ate meat and potatoes. Hee hee, mom would force vegetables down his throat at least once a meal. To hear him sitting in his chair, it was like the melting witch from the Wizard Of Oz. Butter bean night was the best for funniest reactions. he had to chew those up. He couldn't just swallow them whole. Oh the agony, "these are like horse pills" I remember that one well. The rule at my house was you had to clean your plate before you could get up from the supper table. I never had a problem clearing my plate of all the food on it. I know that is hard to believe. Lots of great memories.
Times have changed though. We get too busy and everyone is so spread out. Jobs, cheer practice, ball games, family obligations it's a load some times. We wonder why our families are so dysfunctional. We try to make an effort to sit at the supper table at least 2-3 times a week. I know it's not seven days a week, but it's a start. I need to work on my being more thankful in prayer in all honesty. I never want to take what I have for granted or else just like family time at the supper table it will be gone.
Kenney Big Skinny Pope
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