Sunday Breakfast, Way Back When, Then & Now

Way back when...

As a child (ages and ages and ages ago) Sunday breakfast meant Mass first. Then when we got home Mom made a big breakfast with grapefruit (cut in half and then each piece pre cut, sugar sprinkled on top), bacon and fried eggs and toast (buttered right to the edge) and orange juice. Mmmm. Then, while the family chatter was going on in the kitchen over second cups of coffee for the adults, I'd read the funnies in front of the heat register in the living room. Full belly, toasty warmth, and home sounds - nothing better.

Then...

When my kids were babies I remember breakfasts at Lady Bar Lane with Mom and Dad. I know I went in the wintertime too 'cause I remember wondering if I should've stayed home when it snowed. But mostly I remember Spring & Summer with all the green outside their patio doors... the grass (that we all laid - & had fun doing it), all the trees Dad planted, the flowers. Col & Jim would usually be there (maybe still sleeping at first) and sometimes other sibs but lots of times just Mom & Dad and my kids.

Now...

Sunday breakfast at Egg Harbor with family is always enjoyable. It's so good to see Mom and anyone else who happens to be there. Sometimes it's an intimate breakfast visit with only a few of us. And sometimes it's a huge event with many of us switching seats and trying to catch up with as many lives as we can. Mom tells stories from long ago, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes amazing, always interesting. We talk of our families, shared memories, work, play, life, death, faith, politics (did we really all come from the same parents?), current events. We tease, joke, catch up, empathize, comfort, encourage and generally enjoy ourselves. Always a good morning.