If I was asked what the best part of my childhood was, my answer would no doubt be inclined towards food. My parents made sure we ate together at breakfast and at dinner time. The only exemption was during lunch and that was because we would not always be together. I and my siblings would be in school, my mom would be in her shop and my dad would also be at work. So breakfast and dinner time saw us together on the dinning table eating happily.
One other thing that makes these childhood memories great for me was the additional food or meat rations I got to have. I'm my daddy's girl and as such whenever we eat, he would consistently share his meat with me or even deliberately not finish his meal, just so that I could have an extra bite.
My mom would look at me with that eye that spoke volumes yet silent and I would also pretend not to see the eye as I chewed on the meat or food generously given to me by my dad. When she couldn't take it anymore, she would say ”My dear, you are spoiling this girl o” and my dad would respond with ” She's my first fruit. Allow her to enjoy herself”. As for me, I would just sit there like a deaf person and be enjoying my extra food.
Even when we traveled to the village, my mom's hometown in Abia State ro be precise, I still received same treatment from my uncles and aunts and most especially from my grandpa. I was his first grandchild and as such everything given to me was double portion (no wonder I became a foodie).
Back then, my grandma would roll out a native mat for all the grandchildren to sit on while the adults made use of the dining table to eat. It was always a beautiful moment as there would be light banter flying here and there and it was also a time to listen in on some juicy gossip about other villagers, lol.
Maybe it is just my hunch, but I've come to notice that people feel relaxed and at ease on the dining table and they easily pour out their heart's troubles there as well.
Sadly, this dd not go on forever. Life happened, we (the children) grew up and left home. Even my mom passed on to be with the Lord. My dad retired and went to stay in his family home. We all started to chase our goals, career paths and dreams. We did not even live together anymore and so that culture of eating together faded away.
The only time we ate together as a family these days is during any festivities like Christmas and Easter and other times during my dad's birthday in October. These are the only times when I can say that we sit to eat together as a family because these are the only times we would be found together in one place.
Seeing that we only eat together occasionally, my siblings and I make it a point of duty to lavishly enrich the meals to be prepared during those festive periods. Infact, my younger brother and I save up for those time especially Christmas time. We made sure that food was in excess just like the way my mom used prepare it.
At the moment, I live with my daughter and youngest sister and brother. I make it a point of duty that we eat together on weekends since on weekdays, we have to rush out to school and to work but on weekends, we enjoy our meals together no doubt.
For now, the only thing stopping me from making eating together a regular affair woul be my job. I leave home early yet come back late. If I could own my own business with control over my time, then we would all eat together at least twice daily and not only on weekends.
Thank you all for reading. This is my entry to the #hivelearners initiative for week 177e 1.
Images source: Meta Ai.
Yours truly Beckyroyal: Living life with passion.