Graded Blog 1: Dinners with my Family

Growing up in my home in Texas, my family did not make much of a big deal out of food, and, in fact, most of the time when dinner was made I would just get my food and bring it back up to my room, to eat alone. Infrequently did we eat together, and, at the time, I groaned when forced to sit together with my family and eat dinner. Though looking back on it, I really miss those days, being able to enjoy a simple meal and converse peacefully with my family members, instead of only having the option of eating in relative solitude and being limited to the awkward messes for conversations I have now with my family members. When I look back on it, one of the few things that kept everyone in my family in touch with each other were the simple conversations we would share during those relatively uncommon suppers together.

When I think of what I will have for dinner now, I usually think of grease-laden or relatively tasteless fast food in my room alone, instead of simple home cooked meals with family. I know now that only on the special occasion (a holiday, for instance) will I be able enjoy a meal that will be full of flavor and presented in the unprofessional manor that only my mother can produce, or the surprisingly inventive and surprisingly delicious concoctions that my father can stir up.

Looking back upon those times now, I realize that nearly every time I ate with my family, the meal was cooked by my father. My father grew up with two deep passions, golfing and cooking, and whenever he took charge of dinner for a night, my family traditionally would run and hide, for fear of his cooking ending up to only suit his taste buds. Despite our obvious concern, my father would drag everyone to the kitchen and we would all be forced to enjoy his cooking, though quite rarely was this force really necessary.

One dinner in particular sticks out in my mind was when my mother and sister were away for the night, and my father was the only around to feed me, so he decided to make a full home cooked meal for me and him. This dinner in particular sticks out to me because normally my father would just call me down when the meal was finished, I would come down, eat it, enjoy it, talk with my father, be done and go back to my room. Instead, my father brought me into the kitchen and got me involved in the food making process, which I really had never done before, and also got a little insight into the food making mind of my father. After the meal was made, we then ate together and for one of the first times in quite a while, were able to have a simple one-on-one conversation with each other. Now this may seem simple to you readers, but these moments were far and few between for me, and the more I look back on it, the more I wish I had experienced these moments.

My sister and I never really talked much, and, for the most part, we really did not know what was going on in each others lives. It was only during our family meals that we ever really stayed in the same room for any real length of time, so, of course(sort of), we were interested in how one another was doing, and gave us insight into each others lives. It also put us in loop for anything crazy that happened at our school but did not spread between the grade levels, so we kind of grew to understand each others situation in school.

Of all of my immediate family members, I think food has brought me closer to my mother than anyone else in my family. Whenever I needed food she (of course) would feed me, no matter what she was doing, and since she was always there, and this dependency for food eventually spread to other facets of my psyche. I was able to go to my mother whenever I was faced with a problem that I could not handle or when I just had to tell someone something, she would always be there to say, "What should I do help?" and while this did not solve the problem as often as asking her for food did, it still allowed me to calm down and find a solution. While food is not directly related to such memories, this cherished memories might not exist if it was not for my mother always there to feed me when I could not find food for myself.
Though I have only mentioned the effects food has had on my immediate family, it has brought me closer to my extended family as well, though the effects were not as profound as it was for my immediate family. The most influential times food brought me closer to my extended family were at the Thanksgivings early in my life, when every possible family member in Texas would come and make some special dish at my house for our Thanksgiving dinner. These were the few times that I really could see practically everyone in my family all at once, and moments like these were staggering to me as a little kid, seeing my home that is normally almost completely empty being full of family members that I know care for me that I rarely get to see due to the distance that typically separates us.

Food has truly allowed me to be able to talk freely with my family members, and has allowed me to realize just how much I can depend on my family members. Also, I believe that food has also invoked the same feelings in everyone else in my family. I truly do not think my family would be able to communicate as they do now if it was not for the role food played in our lives.

Pictures:
1.family eating dinner together:http://run4change.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/family-dinner.jpg
2. family praying at dinner table:http://nurturingfaith.files.wordpress.com/2007/01/family-dinner.jpg