The last time I ate with my parents was over the weekend when I went by my family house. As a complete family(with my parents and siblings), I believe the last time that we enjoyed meals together was during the December holiday period. It was the last time that we were together. We did have family meals during the only other time after that that we were together- Easter - but not everyone was present. Two persons were absent.
Everyone lives far off, so these festivities or events are what brings us together at a time. Eating as a family is like an unspoken ritual. It's a practice passed down from our parents' parents, and so far, even the littlest of our family unit is not left out. When I was a child, my mother made sure that she served our meals and that we ate together. Sometimes, we ate from a plate. Other times, we would eat in groups, but not very often did we eat separately. Dinner, in particular, was a sacred affair. Dinnertime, to be particular.
We would usually gather around to eat, and in those moments, we would share details on how our day went and just discuss things in general. We didn't have any dining set, but we stayed together in our space. It was either that or we were tuned in to some program(network news, soap opera, or even a home video) which we entertained ourselves with as we ate. It was exciting and I looked forward to it. Then we had to share pieces of meat and as the last boy, I was either grumbling about being left with the smallest piece of meat or because an older brother had bitten too much from the one piece we were tp share and left me with little. It was here that I learned the true meaning of "survival of the fittest." As we ate together, I either had to match the pace of other members of the family or end up not getting enough to eat. It was also during these times that our bond, particularly those of my siblings and I, strengthened. We talked a lot about literally everything. We knew what was going on in one another's lives, we learned our strengths, weaknesses, we felt one another. It was always chaotic and beautiful to bond over bowls.
I watched my mum always wait for my dad to return from work or wherever he went so they could eat together. My dad did the same. I saw how this little practice made them even closer. I had this friend back then who would tell me that I have a happy home just because, if he ever happened to come by my house and bump into us eating, we were doing that together. It was just normal to me but new and nice to him. My parents and their siblings eat together every time they're together and we get to eat with our cousins whenever we're all together. We rarely eat with our nuclear families - after all, it's a tradition that's been passed to us. Upholding it, even when i have my own family, i hope, shouldn't be a problem.
I hope that this was interesting to read.
Thanks for coming around.