We had an impromptu gathering last night at dinner at a fondue restaurant in Colorado Springs. We laughed and shared stories, reminiscing about growing up & eating fondue. My parents had a slate coffee table and fairly often, we had a special Sunday night treat of eating fondue in the family room while watching TV ~ 60 Minutes, MASH, the FBI. (Hey, how many people can say the have "fondue memories"?!)
It is fun to hear the stories and the various perceptions of our shared experiences. Throw into the mix my cousin Kelly, who has been a part of many of our family events. She has this freaky gift for remembering trivial details. Like some kind of savant, Kelly can tell you not only what restaurant we went to after my sister's wedding in 1980, but where everybody SAT at the table. She frequently interjects color commentary and details my sisters and I forget
I am blessed to have a close family, something that is never far from my heart. Still, it is during these times that we come together, sharing our versions of history, that I am particularly attuned to this fact.
The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together. ~Erma Bombeck
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