Together Tuesdays™

For our family, it’s important for us to eat meals together because it allows for opportunities to share our experiences, feelings, inspirations and ambitions with each other. It also builds a stronger bond and connection to each other as a whole, creating confidence and self-esteem that’s needed to be well-rounded mentally and physically healthy individuals, which I believe starts at the table. Moreover, we want to create everlasting memories and traditions that will hopefully carry on for generations.

- Monique Vigilance

Mealtimes are my favorite part of the day. I try to make a quick, healthy dinner for the kids after a long day at work and school. We do breakfast and dinner together most days!

- Anne Miller

Lunchtime is usually my favorite mealtime of the day. I love eating lunch with co-workers at my favorite restaurant. I like the different meal options, chill environment and meeting other people who work in the city. Overall, getting together, sharing a meal and laughing brightens my day.

- Jada Dove

On Sept. 13, my family and I shared our most recent birthday dinner together in Arizona. This was a joint celebration for my husband’s 40th birthday on Sept. 6 and my birthday on Sept. 8. The coolest part about this dinner was that we declared it our Inaugural Family Dinner. Going forward, we have marked the second Tuesday of every month to be our standing family dinner. Our plan is to rotate the hosting home and/or plan a dinner out. But the important part is that we have secured a specific day each month to be together. Oftentimes we say we will plan something and then we easily let too many months pass us by without doing so. This commitment will help ensure that our family time does not get lost in the shuffle.

- Nickie Blossey

When my mom passed away unexpectedly in 2008 from heart disease, I was only 16 years old. Although my aunt and uncle lived only 30 minutes away from us, they moved closer to help my dad take care of me and my sister.

From that point on, my aunt and uncle decided that at least one night a week we’d all have dinner together. This weekly tradition became known as Monday Night Dinner. Every Monday we’d gather around the dinner table to share a home-cooked meal, stories, laughter and sometimes a few tears.

Some nights the dinner table was full of family and friends. Some nights there were only a couple of us. The dinner table wasn’t just for dinner. It was open for late night snacks after high school dances and early breakfast mornings before heading back to college. Even after I graduated and moved away from home, there was always Monday Night Dinner whenever someone was home.

The table was always open to whomever wanted to come. There have been so many faces over the years that have sat around that table, including new family members who joined us along the way through relationships, marriage and birth.

Monday Night Dinner was my family’s form of therapy as we worked through the loss of my mom. It’ll forever be my favorite family tradition, and it’s something I can’t wait to carry on with my own children.

- Kayla Garrison