Guest blog with Imperfect Mom-Sunday dinners

I’m excited to have today’s guest blogger here in my corner of the WordPress world. Imperfect Mom and I first met up on the linkups for Sunday confessions. I was struck by her honesty, wit, and talent. She’s so far from imperfect, and so kind and genuine. That to me is a perfect quality in a friend. I’m happy that last year we bonded through our blogs and have become wonderful friends. She’s a wonderful woman with a beautiful love story that gives me goosebumps. As well as being an amazing Mom, sister, and Grandma. You can read about her journey here
http://welcometomyimperfectworld.com.

And follow her here http://www.facebook.com/imperfectmomchronicles

I was asked to do a guest blog post for a wonderful blogger and very special friend, JSacksmom. She is on Facebook too so check her out there too!!
https://www.facebook.com/jsackmomblog

As a young girl I remember Sunday dinners at my grandparents house vividly. We arrived early so my mom could help my grandmother (my Nana), to cook the meal. Sometimes cousins were there to play with, and sometimes it was just my sister and I. Until my brother came along then we had to occupy him so mom could help. We would play outside if it was nice enough to do so, exploring the back yard which butted up against a hillside that was overgrown with trees. We had friends who lived in the neighborhood near my Nana, so often we were next door in their back yard playing hopscotch, Chinese jump rope or jacks. Sometimes we even climbed up in the trees and just sat on a limb talking. When the weather wasn’t nice we mostly just sat in the living room with our Papa and watch television. Papa had a couple of strokes so he didn’t really interact with us too much. He often just sat in his rocking chair watching whatever happened to be on the TV. Sometimes during a moment of lucidity he would play practical jokes on us kids, and if we were running in the house he thought it was funny to stick out his cane to try to trip us. Sometimes we were caught off guard and we would trip, but often times we knew somehow that he was in a ornery mood so we avoided his prankster ways. He wasn’t being mean to us, we knew that he loved us but the strokes had done damage to his once agile body and he had a hard time walking or doing much of anything.

Mom would call us in when it was almost time to eat so that we could wash our hands and help set the table. Carrying dishes of hot food, salt and pepper, and dishes with sliced meat and potatoes which were usually the Sunday fare. We would fill the glasses with milk or water while Nana made her gravy for whatever meat she was serving that day. It always tasted great too, my Nana was an excellent cook. She made pretty much everything from scratch and it was always fresh, whereas my mom used more pre-packaged and convenience foods. I remember dishes of food being passed around and nobody ate until everybody’s plates were filled with steaming hot food. We said grace and would eat our meal with not a lot of talking. I don’t recall hearing lots of talking during dinner, but it could be just because we were so young and it didn’t really concern us. Or it could have been because we were all just quiet. After dinner everyone pitches in and helps to clear the table and clean up dishes before sitting down to spend some family time doing whatever. Talking, playing a game, or just hanging out listening to music, until dessert is served.

My Nana passed away not long after I graduated high school, she was very special to me and I miss her quite a bit. She is why I wanted my granddaughter to call me Nana, because I remember only great things about her and I hope my granddaughter recalls great things about me as well.

In the past year or so I have managed to reinvigorate the Sunday dinner tradition for my family. Even though each week it is just us for dinner, I still think it is important in this busy a go-go world to sit down and share a relaxing meal. We talk about what each person has coming up that week and catch up on what we may have missed the week before. But mostly we just enjoy being together. I plan the meal and do my best to make everything from scratch and make it something that we don’t always have. Sometimes it is a new recipe I saw on TV or something that popped into my head late at night or in a dream. I have since learned to make some of the things my Nana made and to this day I am still amazed that I am able to recreate the tastes I remember as a kid, considering my mom didn’t really allow us in the kitchen when she was fixing dinner. I got to learn many of the things I know just by accident, as well as things I have learned on TV later in life. I hope to build precious memories with the hope that one day my children will carry on the tradition of sitting down to a relaxing meal together as a family unit. Even if it just once a week.