Kitchen Table

Kitchen Table

the very table from my childhood is in my apartment in Las Vegas

One of my best friends and country music artist, Chuck Wicks, wrote a song recently entitled “Kitchen Table”.  Like most of Chuck’s songs, it has a catchy tune, a great hook, and passionate lyrics.   

This song struck a chord with me (pun intended), and it reminds me of how I grew up with a loving family in eastern Kentucky.  Suppertime was family time…TV off…napkins on laps…and a time to practice your manners over some good old fashioned, quality time at the kitchen table.

My mom and dad both worked hard so that my sister and I could have life experiences, material things, and most importantly a solid foundation of moral values.  The life experiences – vacations, travel, and basketball camps were great.  The material things – basketball goal and pool in the backyard, clothes, and a new car when I turned sixteen were also very nice…but some of the most valuable life lessons and cherished memories of my childhood and adolescent years come from sitting around the kitchen table.

OneMoreStep thought for this week – Don’t underestimate the importance and the impact of making time for family, friends, and loved ones around the kitchen table. 

The meaningful time spent with those you love, the conversations that strengthen relationships, and the lessons learned in the process are all a collective OneMoreStep that our parents, our children, our friends, and the objects of our affection will cherish long after the vacations are over and long after the material possessions have gone out of style.

We all have agendas.  We all have timelines and deadlines.  We all have those things hanging over our head that consume our every thought.  Sometimes it’s hard to make time for our family…our friends…our loved ones. 

However, we should ask ourselves - if we check that email in an hour instead of right now…or if we finish up that project in the morning rather than tonight…or if we spend the extra money to fly home for an additional visit with the family instead of buying that new tv…so that we can enjoy quality time and meaningful conversation with the people that mean the most to us - Will we make an impact?  Will work be ok without us for a few minutes, a few hours, or a few days?  I think so…  Will our family, our friends who may need a shoulder to cry on, or our loving significant others enjoy our company way more than our company will ever value our overachieving efforts at work?  Absolutely…

Five years from now…ten years from now…and twenty years from now…which will be more meaningful and fulfilling? – The fact that we really crushed it in our careers OR the lasting memories we will have made with the people we love – our closest friends, our family, and the loves of our lives? 

Wherever yours may be and whomever you may have sitting around it…don’t underestimate the valuable lessons, quality conversations, and the loving relationships that can be formed at that kitchen table. 

Two for the road…

THANKS Mom & Dad…

If your parents always figured out a way to gather the family around the kitchen table, and if you’re taking a look back and realizing how much that meant to you and/or how much you cherish both the memories and the lessons learned around that kitchen table…go OneMoreStep and tell them how much it meant to you then and how much it means to you now.

To my Mom & Dad – thanks for always making time for quality conversations around the kitchen table growing up.  Dad would work late into the evenings at his office, but first he would always make time for dinner around the kitchen table.  Mom would be up at dawn, get us ready for school, go teach school, make sure we were picked up and dropped off at the appropriate practice or sporting event…and then not only make sure food was prepared, but she also taught us many lessons around that kitchen table.

Chuck Wicks – “Kitchen Table”

“It’s a long road, if ya don’t know where you’re going…it’s a hard ride, if ya ain’t got family…take the good advice…and the sweet tea from your mama…and the stories that will make ya…and the prayers that will save ya…sit’n ‘round the kitchen table…” – Chuck Wicks

Thanks, Charles, for another beautiful song, with moving lyrics to those of us that learned so much sit’n around that kitchen table.   I love ya, fella…and couldn’t be prouder of you.  See you soon.

Enjoy – “Kitchen Table” by one of the best guys you'll ever meet, my buddy Mr. Charles Elliott Wicks…