Welcome to Our Table
October 25, 2007
At my table, the placemats barely cover the stains made by years of homework assignments, sewing projects, mailings for causes I'm sure were important at the time. Sometimes family life is shiny and smooth. But from day to day, we are more likely to notice the scratches, the bumps.
Still, I find that even the imperfections give comfort.
We all need to feel part of a clan. We all snuggle into routines; take meaning from the small rituals of everyday life. When we get together with loved ones for a meal and a chat, we share one of the most widespread of human rituals. Feeding our kin, sharing the details of our lives day by day – this is how we act out what it means to be a family.
You, the parent, provide the place, the food, the expectation that people will come. Your family provides the joy, the angst, the giggles, and the sudden stab of pride. If your table, or your family, is anything like mine, I am betting that the surface of your time together will rarely be gleaming or perfect. But it will wear well, and it will be yours.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today.