| Tuesday, 6-May-2008 22:36 |
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To All of Our Tomorrows
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My parents have had some ranch land outside of Katy for years. The house they are building on the ranch is almost complete and will be big enough to hold our entire family plus significant others plus children. My mom and dad know that the rolling hills of green and Texas wildflowers will keep us around for good. Oak trees line the entrance. The trees are so thick that when you're driving down the pebbled path, your satellite radio will go out and search for a signal. The cricket chirps are so loud at night. Count the number of chirps in fourteen seconds, add forty, and you'll have the temperature. It usually seems about right.
This morning, I went shopping with my mom and my aunt Grace. We need a table. Immediate family only would require a table for eight. Add husbands and wives, fourteen. Room for kids? We are looking for something for around 20+. The dining room is more like a dining hall. If there's one thing we enjoy doing as a family, it's dinner. We're a pretty loud group and we've got lots to talk about. Friends I have brought to our table are often amazed and tell me it's like something you see in feel good holiday movies and I agree: talk of new loves and lost ones, the vegetarian menu for one, too much wine, lots of laughter, whispers and giggles, stories and a few tall tales. The difference is those huge dinners as seen on TV only take place once a year. We try to do this every week. My younger sisters and brother still moan and try to come up with an excuse when mom calls days ahead with the invite and enticing menu. When we do all get together, you can tell they secretly love it.
We saw many different tables, none of which we thought was right for the house, and I had fun picturing where everyone would sit. I thought of Ali sitting with a brother or sister and cousins. I want to give him what I had growing up. I just hope it'll be the same for him though he will be much older than his future siblings and new family.
Toasts to new members of the family, birthday boys and girls, graduates, new jobs, achievements, our friends, hopes and dreams, health, love, and happiness. And to all of our tomorrows. 
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