Category: Relationships

Tia, put down your phone and watch TV.

My 3-year-old Great-Nephew

I did, although I was texting updates to friends and family who were praying for the child’s father. My nephew was in ICU recovering from heart surgery. Or not recovering most days.

My great-nephew’s request was a funny story to tell until a friend observed that the child wanted me to be invested in his interests, Peppa the Pig. Or was it Paw Patrol that morning?

After consideration, I realized that my husband and I were doing the same. We were asking others to invest in our current interests, my nephew, his wife, and their sons.

After days of working puzzles, blowing bubbles, monitoring the sandbox, and inventing the silliest games, I understood how deeply God wired us to share experiences.

My great-nephews reciprocated. When my husband went for a 14-mile run, they tracked his progress on my app. It thrilled them to watch the dot on the screen that presented Tio’s progress as he ran around a local lake. They were absorbed with the photos on our phones that represented our activities at home.

May God bless you with people to share your experiences.

During daily walks with my friend Kathy, why did we discuss what we were making for dinner or had made the previous day? Why does my book group discuss our meals more than our books? As I typed these questions, I realized I could identify some friends by their meals.

Given the response to a recent blog (see here) it seems that many of you do the same. I have been pondering these close-friend, food conversations, and I have a few ideas.

Meals reflect our tastes, culture, allergies, time limitations, and income levels. Meals reveal our patience as well as the friends and family whom share our table. We save these intimate details for the trusted.

But why do we talk about food so much with those closest to us?

Meals dominate our time, and our friends care how our hours are spent. They appreciate our toil, marvel at our shortcuts, rejoice at our triumphs, and either lament or laugh at our mistakes.

Meals nourish our bodies, but the telling of them nourishes our friendships.

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

So, what are you making for dinner tonight?

A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than for other people.

Thomas Mann 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature

According to the definition above, I am a writer. So, what’s a writer to do when she has people she wants to stay in touch with? Or express her affection? Or her concern? And she has enough regrets over unwritten letters. (See here.)

Steal from others.

Don’t worry. This theft is legal. There’s even a book with encouragement that I highly recommend. Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon.

I copy uncopyrighted poems and lyrics. I recycle the fronts of greeting cards. I pilfer old calendars. I clip cartoons. All are better expressed and more interesting than my words.

I trust my friends so know my heart. It’s not a lazy exercise. Some days it’s quite time consuming to find the right item, but in a world of drifting away, the words and art of others are my lifeline.

Thank you, friends, for the ways you stay in touch with me.