Our Family Table Poem by Jim Yerman

When our children were growing up…
when life was simpler and our routines a little more stable…
we met for breakfast, lunch and dinner around our family table.

Our table saw our children's laugher
felt their tears…and heard their screams.
It helped them with their homework…it was privy to their dreams.

That table is still a family table…
over the years it hasn't lost it's touch…
But…with our children grown and moved away…it isn't used as much.

We recently had dinners with different portions of our family…
to show how life's a little less stable…
different family members…in different cities…
at different restaurants…around different tables.

Our latest family dinner…was a 30 minute jaunt..
to meet Ali, Damien. Trista and Taylor at an Indian restaurant.

And I got to thinking as our family's grown
how we get together wherever we can…with whomever's able…
and how any table we're sitting at…becomes our family table.

Around that table we reconnect as a family
we see the laughter, feel the tears and hear the screams…
and though there's no more homework anymore…
we still listen to each other's dreams.

Nowadays as I sit and listen to whatever portion of our family is there…
in whatever seat I may have landed…
I'm always smiling thinking how…
over the years
our family table has expanded.