My family and I went to a history exhibit held at my home town. My sister met us there. Afterwards, we went for lunch. It was nice to see her again as our schedules do not match too often. We were talking about food likes and don’t likes from growing up. We shared some stories.
She does not eat fish of any kind. That was news to me. She said she would have to stay at the table until she finished eating that fish. She would stuff her mouth with it then head to the bathroom. Hmmm. Interesting. I shared my experience of the split pea soup (yuck!!). My mother filled it up then when I not only did not like it, I could barely choke it down. She said I had 5 minutes to eat it or she would fill my bowl again. I had one spoon left and she filled it again. I had to stay at the table until I ate it all. I did not think about that bathroom thing idea.
Funny how we were at the same dinner table and have experienced different food stuffs. The joke is whether we were in the same house. This is a reminder that we all have had some traumatic experiences that shape our lives today. Food being one of them. It seemed like a shared moment of history.
At the exhibit, my son commented that he did not know that I had done that research project. Doesn’t matter if it is in the family or class reunion, our lives have so many facets and we have gone on to do many things and have adventures. People have their ideas about us based on history, not about moving forward. That snapshot stays firmly affixed in other’s brain albums. That is their context and it can be challenging to get someone to change their minds about who we are now.
As an anecdote to those people, I have decided that living my life fully in present time is a happier place to be in. I know what I have done, who I am becoming and where I have been. Blessed be the people who are open to hearing about these things and successes, who cheer us on.
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