it has been nearly 10 years since the beginning of the ritual of “supper night.” we gather for supper. no matter the mood, no matter the chaos of life, no matter the readiness, we eat together. it has morphed from basic pot luck to soup and pie to park picnics to the current arrangement of one family providing supper and the other bringing dessert.

early on when there were only two babies and life felt new and hard and so good, we visited. as they grew and more came, the visiting shifted. how many times at the end of the eve we wondered why we did this, we can’t visit, it’s so loud, it’s bedtime, the kids aren’t eating enough…

in the early days we lingered over the sinks to wash dishes and babies…to leave the house the way it looked before. i don’t remember when we made the intentional commitment to not clean up after eating…when two babies turned to six…when school called…when we shrugged our shoulders knowing we can’t keep up anyway.

now the gift is being together and in the cleaning remembering that gift.

and this week, there was visiting. regular voice level visiting. one in the bathtub, two dogs in the kennel, three at a movie, and after a little face painting,

the two “babies” joining the adult circle. i want to remember this beauty.