As long as I (Emily) can remember, my family gathered around the table most nights of the
week. I remember spending whole afternoons even around my grandmother’s table. Stories of
the past were told, most often of our family. It’s one of my best childhood memories that played
out over and over again. One of the reasons I loved it so much is that there was a genuine love
and welcome offered to anyone that wanted to join. As my father was a pastor at our church, we
many times hosted guest from other countries at our table; different ethnicities and different
economic backgrounds. As an adult I love that I had this wonderful gift of being comfortable with
diversity. Now one of our family’s core beliefs is to always have an open door to our neighbors,
friends and family. We too strive to create a place for people to gather at the table. We are
keeping up the tradition of eating around the table together with our kids. This will always be
part of how our family works.
