Tater-Salad

So about a month ago, my husband was driving home from school, when he called me and said I needed to login to his school email and read a paper he had wrote that night in English class.  I was slightly annoyed as I was presently trying to round up 4 kids and wrangle them in bed for the night.  However to appease his persistence, I went ahead and logged on to his email, and downloaded this paper he wanted me to read.  I got a paragraph into it and was already welling up with tears.  Anyway I thought I would share it with you all.  Enjoy!! 

Current Event: Tater-Salad

            My current event was not found in a newspaper. It was not seen on a cable news channel, heard on the radio, nor blogged on an internet site. It was revealed in a spoonful of potato salad. This was no ordinary potato salad. This was my wife’s culmination of at least ten years-worth of trials and errors culminating in one delicious revelatory bite.

            As I sat at my kitchen table with my four children and wife, consuming delicious fresh grilled hand pressed beef patties, fresh brewed sweet tea, and the for-mentioned tater-salad, my eyes were opened. I saw the most important event in the world that happened today. My family dined together in love, harmony, and peace (Well as much peace as could be had at a table with four children).  This was humanity at its perfection.

            It seems that from every angle families are under attack. From the break of dawn parents and children are separated between work and school. Husbands and wife s are then again separated to their respective tasks for the day, and siblings each in their own individual class bustling around the school yard. Then as evening approaches the migration home begins. One would think this would happen in a divergence of stories of the day, the high points and disappointments shared for all to hear, but no. As each respective family member crosses the threshold they once again withdraw to their own vices, alone, quiet.

            When did this become common culture? I don’t know, but to me this is a major issue that is not addressed enough. So while it may not be a breaking news story, the deterioration of family is (in my opinion anyway) a devastating disease riddling our society, and maybe even the world. We set our sights on the big news stories of the day and forget about the smaller things that really matter. 

            With all of the commotion that surrounds my life, from politics to the shootings in Afghanistan to my less than stellar day at work, today I had peace on earth with my family. Each one of us being different and unique we talked, drank and broke bread. Now I do not believe that the things that go on around the world or nation are unimportant, they are just the opposite. But I genuinely believe that what would solve this world’s problems is a spoon-full of tater-salad.