Each year, some of us travel to visit family over the holidays. For me, this means a two-hour flight and a thirty-minute cab ride to see family every Christmas.
When my brother, sister and I finally reach our grandmother’s house and finish giving all of our long-anticipated hugs, we sit around the kitchen table. My dad typically asks us about our flight, how we’re doing in school, and if we want anything to eat. My grandparents typically ask us about our new activities and what we’d like to do during our visit in town. Everyone can finally sit, relax and talk.
Most of our meaningful conversations happen around the table, whether it be for breakfast or dinner. We gather around a long, green kitchen table, all eight of us with our coffee in the morning, and rather than going on about the daily agenda for an hour, we talk about how excited we are to see other family members, what we look forward to in the coming days and just sort of catch up. It’s quite refreshing from my normal daily routine at college.
That’s what a visit is all about, though. The family, the conversation and the time we spend together.
I don’t always have the experience of just sitting and talking for a while. When you live at college, you just sort of get into your own routine and you don’t always have someone to ask you about the previous day, or what you’d like to do tomorrow. Of course, we all have friends that we might have lunch with once in awhile, but it’s never the same as sitting with family.
Sure, there’s always the judgemental questions about relationships or whatever life choices you make, but in the end, they’re family. They’re always going to be interested in your life. They’ll always be there to fill up those other seats at the table and talk.
So, this holidays season, make sure to savor the time you have at the table with your family. You might not like everything that you hear, but you won’t always have the chance to sit at a table full of people who love you.
Happy holidays, and enjoy your holiday dinners with a side of some meaningful conversation.