The Joy of Family Dining Together

Reading this first edition, my mind flashed back to those times when everything was still very much alive and fun. I mean, that time when my family had enough time to talk about stuff, crack jokes and be grateful as we ate dinner together. Well, life was pretty good and things were less expensive in those times.

If there was one thing we found memorable, it was dining together as a family. This is why my Dad, wherever he may be, would be home on time so he doesn't keep us waiting for long. Hunger isn’t something one would toy with, so he understood that very well.

As young as we were then, I still remember how after every dinner, Dad would give us some time to play outside with other children while he and Mom would bring out their favourite ludo game and play for some time before we called it a day and the cycle repeated again - this went on for years until everything changed.

Other times, we would stay back just to watch our parents play the game and we’d side with each of them. I can’t remember who I sided with most back then, but it was always an interesting moment seeing someone beat the other, and other times, mom would get angry because he won over her, but you know, as men, he’d prefer for her to win so he could eat a delicious meal the next dinner. Hahaha 😂

This isn’t to boast but I would say my family was the only one that ate together in our compound then because living in a toxic environment where everyone behaves anyhow and fights happening among couples each day, we still lived fine because Dad had a good work he was doing and mom was a business woman who also ventured into nylon production with different machines arranged orderly in the house.

I loved our family and it was one of the reasons I have determined that no matter what and forever, I would make sure the tradition of eating together as a family never leaves me. I wish and always pray for a good man and wonderful kids where we can play, enjoy our time together while eating, and after that, we might sit down to watch TV for a while before finally saying good night till the next morning.

I used to see this happen so many times in movies, and when I see these families enjoying, giving updates about different things, playing games even while eating together, it takes me back to how my parents ensured we had fun together as a family before everyone retired to face the business of the day.

That was always the time I would say we came together, had time for ourselves to share lots of stuff about how the day had been because during the day, we barely had time for ourselves as we were always busy at mom’s shop attending to customers while Dad travelled to another city for his work and only returns at night.

One thing I loved about him was how he never arrived late no matter what he was doing. He had understood the road and its traffic, and for him not to delay us, he would leave his place of work earlier to get home on time so we could eat together.

We don’t eat until he shows and that made our family stronger and loving. The beautiful part was how we don’t eat inside, but would bring our tables outside the door so we could set an example for others who had passed by, and greet and see how we ate together as a family.

I missed eating together as a family because it’s been a long time since we did that. Even when we travel home for festivals, we seldom do that except when it just happened by fate and everyone would meet each other surrounded by the dining table, eat and crack jokes, but it has been a long while since we did this. I wish it would come back, but for now, I don’t think such would happen because since the death of grandma, we don’t do that anymore.

But for me, I would make sure nothing stops us from eating together till we grow old. Such a tradition strengthens the family’s bond and makes it more memorable.

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