family style

it’s a space physically too small for four adults to sit around, but that’s easily provided dining space for eight or ten like the table down at the wilson farm in south mississippi. it’s a bookmark that moves through the pages of our lives, marking the progression of our families from arkansas to north carolina and now to mississippi like the harris family table that now fills our dining room, reminding us of what has been and causing us to pause and wonder what will be. the table has a unique quality that invites such closeness and invokes such memories. there’s no space like it in a home.

the first purchase that biz and i made as a couple was a dropleaf table we found at a silent auction. since then we’ve talked about the tables we love, the memories we have of sitting around tables with our grandparents, our parents, our friends, and one day i hope to build a table (like this one from ana white) that our family can sit around while enjoying a delicious meal and even better company.

when we southerners get together with friends and family and, well, whomever walks in the door, there’s nothing more we want to do than share a meal together. and despite the best efforts of our hectic schedules, the draw of our favorite primetime shows, the magnetic force that seems to draw us either to the comfort of our beds and/or sofas at the end of a long day, and the sheer number of people we have descending upon our homes for those greens or blt salads or venison tenderloins, we still think that the best place to share those meals is around a table.

it really doesn’t matter the size or shape or color of the table. we simply want to gather in one place, pass the plates, and talk about god knows what as we eat. i can’t tell you how many thanksgiving and christmas dinners i ate at the corner of a table, at a card table with young cousins or friends, or with a table leg digging into my knees just because, in my family, if you were eating a meal with others, you ate it at the table.

sure, there are days when biz and i want to sit in an armchair and catch the latest episode of the new girl, but you better believe that more often than not we’re sitting at our kitchen table, an old drafting table built more for pens and inks than chili and cornbread, hashing over the day’s events, making plans, and keeping up the tradition our families taught us. there are few places we southerners would rather be.