For the past few days, my Dad has been sending out photos from my childhood, which has resulted in my looking through my cache of old images, recalling happy days in my life when I really approached life as a child, not only because I was one but also because I have set a goal for myself to really approach my faith in God in that same childlike way.
This is one of my favorite family photos. We are not dressed for a portrait, nor are we posed, well, at least not in our most flattering light. We are seated in “our spots” at the family dinner table, celebrating my 12th birthday. It wasn’t my birthday that the photo was to remember as much as the beautiful “castle” cake I had baked from a recipe in our Better Crocker Junior Cookbook. I’m not quite sure where my sister, Barb, got the rose in her teeth, but that is just one of those family mysteries.
We gathered as a family at that table in that tiny dining room every night for dinner for ten years until my family moved. After that, we still sat at that table, just in a different dining room. Family dinner time was sacred in our home. If you were in the house at dinner time (and not contagiuos you were expected to be there. If you weren’t there, you’d had to have an acceptable excuse. (Working, away at school, etc.)
At this humble table we learned the basics of social graces, not to cry over spilled milk (which happend frequently), negotiation skills (how much of this do I have to eat?) and even some lessons in politics (after all, it was the 60’s). Our table was a place of family bonding. We shared the triumphs and defeats of the day and so many laughs. My father kept us in order with my mother as XO. When he was on the road, we’d gang up on poor Mom like a class with a substitute teacher which usually resulted in some zany behavior and even more laughs.
As a look through my life, I clearly see that I was born into privelege; not in the sense that my family held enormous weath or social ranking, because we did not. Instead the privelege I received came from being surrounded by a large family who collectively have operated from an inner strength of value and purpose and a strong grounding in faith in God. This type of privelege is precious and long lasting, spanning generations, with each generation looking to the past as a reminder of what can be accomplished with a good heart and hard work. When I look back at the challenges my parents and grandparents faced, I can clearly see the pluck and self sacrifice it took to pass this birthright on to me. I am both humbled and challenged to continue the chain unbroken onto my own children and grandchildren.