The food went on the table before anyone sat down, and nobody touched a thing until the blessing was said. 🙏 Sunday dinner in Texas was the middle of the day, not the evening, and it happened right after church while everyone was still in their good clothes.
Somebody had been up since before daylight getting it going, because it had to be ready when the cars pulled in. Fried chicken or a roast. Two or three vegetables, at least one of them cooked longer than any cookbook would recommend, and better for it. Rolls under a cloth. Tea already poured with the ice going. The good plates if it was a birthday, the everyday ones if it was not, and never quite enough matching flatware.
The table was where the week actually got sorted out. Who was sick, who was getting married, what the cotton looked like, what somebody said at the store. Kids at the end or at a card table nearby, listening to more than anyone realized. A lot of families have let it go, and the ones who kept it will tell you it is the single thing holding everybody together. 🍗