If you just sang that in your best Fiddler on the Roof impression… you are my kind of people. This morning’s cup was part of me reminiscing of years past mixed with being thankful for traditions we still uphold.
Last night was our family Valentine’s dinner.
It’s a tradition we started 14 years ago, the year after we bought the house, we started it for a couple of reasons. After living in 2 separate households for the first 5 years of Ashlynn’s life we wanted to have traditions that were the 3 of us. We also wanted to install some basic etiquette for fancier dinners. The dinner morphed over the years, (probably when we got smart phone cameras) to a fancy dinner and then a photo shoot afterwards. This is where we could show the proper and then the goofy. As I look back through the photos it might be my fault for the goofy photos… I think it was my way of getting Ashlynn to have a genuine smile.
Now that Ashlynn has her own apartment we don’t see her as much. It’s a little harder for this momma as things are definitely different. But, I love that she is finding her own path and living her own life. Some of our traditions that we started as we started our family have been lost through the years as we grew out of them. So when I asked Ashlynn early in January if she would still like to do a family Valentine’s dinner I wasn’t sure if this would also be a tradition of the past… she was all about it.
It was the scheduling piece that almost didn’t have our dinner happen. The weeks leading up to Valentine’s had Scott’s & my schedule pretty full and I was trying to include Tony (Ashlynn’s boyfriend) into the mix but his schedule had weeknights off the table. So, Valentine’s Day came and went and we still didn’t have something on the books. I finally gave up trying to get all schedules to jive and instead opted for 2 dinners: Our family of 3 Valentine’s dinner and then a family dinner in March with Tony.
We had a great night last night filled with fun conversation as we made food (also part of the Valentine’s tradition, all 3 of us in the kitchen). We had wine/sparkling cider and tasty rosemary bread dunked in olive oil, garlic and pepper as we prepared salad, spaghetti and french bread. We then sat and had a mostly candlelit dinner and then opened presents and cards. Opting for our photoshoot before dessert.
Most of the details around our dinner have stayed the same through the years. Always there is spaghetti and bread and some type of dessert (although there’s been years we are either too full or tired for the dessert) and always by dim light/candlelight. I can’t remember when Ashlynn started helping us in the kitchen, but we tend to take some predinner photos in the kitchen.
I also can’t remember when I started realizing that making my own bouquets of flowers was cheaper than a dozen roses around Valentine’s day but there were a few years Ashlynn helped me design our flower arrangements.
Something else that has also been flexible through the years is the date we chose to celebrate. Between Scott’s graveyard shifts back then and my retail schedule, it was rare that we celebrated on the holiday. We opted to have a family dinner rather than a couples dinner as trying to find 2 days to celebrate was hard back then.
As I’ve combed through the photos from our family dinners through the years, I am so happy that we started this tradition all those years ago. I also feel so blessed that we can celebrate with each other this year.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my trip down memory lane.
Happy evening cups, my friends. ❤️☕️❤️