I have a lot of favorite things.
A really good cup of dark roast coffee with a shot of espresso. Cooking something delicious in my kitchen. A beautiful summer evening. Dogs. Farmers markets. A glass of red wine. Music. Sitting outside when the weather is just right.
But when I really think about my favorite things, most of them aren’t things at all.
They’re people.
They’re the people I can sit around a table with for hours. The people who make me laugh until my stomach hurts. The people I can cook for, talk to, complain to, celebrate with, pray for, and simply be with.
And the older I get, the more I realize how precious that is.
It Doesn’t Have to Be Anything Fancy
Some of my favorite memories aren’t from big vacations or elaborate plans.
They’re dinners at home.
They’re sitting around the kitchen table long after everyone has finished eating.
They’re throwing something on the grill, pouring a glass of wine, and talking about absolutely everything and absolutely nothing.
They’re family coming over and everyone congregating in the kitchen even though there are perfectly good chairs in the other room. Why does everyone always end up in the kitchen?
Actually, I know why.
That’s where the food is.
And apparently, that’s where I am. Ha!
Sometimes it’s going out to dinner. Sometimes it’s spending an afternoon together. Sometimes it’s a holiday with a house full of people and complete chaos. Sometimes it’s just Lou and me having coffee in the morning or sitting together at the end of the day.
None of it sounds particularly extraordinary.
But that’s exactly the point.
I’ve Learned to Appreciate the Ordinary
When you’re younger, you tend to think the big moments are the important ones.
Weddings. Birthdays. Graduations. Vacations. Holidays.
And of course they are important.
But somewhere along the way, I’ve realized that life is mostly made up of all the days in between those big moments.
The random Sunday dinner.
The phone call from one of the kids.
Someone stopping by.
Laughing over something completely ridiculous.
Cooking a meal for people you love and watching them go back for seconds.
Sitting outside together on a beautiful evening and thinking, I don’t really need to be anywhere else right now.
Those are the moments I want more of.
Food Is Still My Love Language
Anyone who knows me knows this already.
If I love you, I’m probably going to feed you.
I’ll cook your favorite dinner. I’ll make the scones. I’ll send you home with leftovers. I’ll ask you seventeen times if you want something else before you leave.
That’s just how I operate.
But I think what I really love isn’t simply making the food.
It’s what happens around the food.
Food gives us a reason to gather.
A pot simmering on the stove, something cooking on the Blackstone, a platter being passed around the table – suddenly everyone slows down for a little while.
We sit.
We talk.
We catch up.
We laugh.
And for a little while, we’re together.
That’s the part I love most.
Time Feels Different Now
At 60, I think about time differently than I did at 30.
You realize how quickly years pass. Kids grow up. Families change. Friends move away. People get busy. Life pulls everyone in a hundred different directions.
And you begin to understand that saying, “We should get together sometime,” isn’t quite enough.
Sometimes you have to actually pick the day.
Make the dinner.
Send the text.
Invite people over even if the house isn’t perfect.
Go visit.
Stay a little longer.
Take the picture.
Because there will never be a perfect time when everyone is free and the house is spotless and nothing else needs to be done.
Life is happening right now.
My Favorite People
My circle doesn’t have to be enormous.
I just want the people I love in it.
My husband. My kids. My family. My dear friends. The people I’ve known forever and the people God has brought into my life along the way.
The ones who know my stories and have heard some of them approximately 400 times.
The ones who show up.
The ones I can laugh with.
The ones who sit at my table.
The ones I miss when they’re not there.
Those are my favorite people.
And spending time with them is easily one of my favorite things.
Maybe That’s What It’s All About
We spend so much of our lives accumulating things, planning things, fixing things, worrying about things and rushing off to the next thing.
But at the end of a really good day, I rarely think:
Wow, I’m so glad I got all that laundry done.
I think about the conversation.
The laughter.
The meal.
The hug before someone left.
The people sitting around my table.
So here’s my little reminder to myself – and maybe to you, too:
Spend time with your people.
Invite them over.
Make the dinner.
Pour the coffee.
Open the wine.
Sit around the table longer than you planned.
Laugh loudly.
Take the picture.
And don’t wait for a special occasion.
Because sometimes an ordinary Tuesday night with your favorite people becomes one of those memories you wish you could step back into years later.
And really, what could be more favorite than that?
