Fond memories of family lunches

Recently, my wife Pat, our daughter Meghan, our grandson Liam, Pat’s sister Nellie and their mother Ruth Davis and I had one of the most enjoyable lunches we’ve had in a long, long time.

It was really impromptu. But it was so much fun. There wasn’t a lot of planning.

Our daughter said she and Liam wanted to come over from Norman to Shawnee and have lunch at a local restaurant with Pat and me. Nellie happened to have come up from Lone Grove to spend a few days with her mom.

Pat invited Nellie and her mom to join us and so it was, the six of us would have lunch together.

It’s not often that four generations can gather for an impromptu lunch like we were able to do that day. Ruth is the matriarch of the family and at 94 she is as spry as ever.

For her to be able to have lunch with her two daughters, her granddaughter and her greatgrandson, and her son-inlaw was pretty special I think.

About the only time all four generations come together are on some holidays and when we try and celebrate all the birthdays at once.

Meghan has a special bond with her grandmother who was at the hospital with her late husband James the night she was born.

She spent a great deal of time around her “Granny” while growing up and has always been close to her ever since.

Ruth has always been really special.

Meghan also has been close to her Aunt Nellie since she was little. She spent several July 4 holidays with Nellie and her late husband Randy when she was quite young and has maintained that relationship with her ever since.

It was easy to see that Ruth was enjoying Liam that day as she ate her lunch. She, like the rest of us, laughed at him as he kept us all entertained.

It’s really not unusual that the little guy, who just turned 2 a month ago, is busy.

He ate some of his lunch all right, but he’s interested in so many things. He likes for Pat, who is his Gigi, to play music on her cell phone and he’s interested in messing with it as much as possible.

It’s pretty neat that we all were able to gather that day. Though Liam is way too young to realize it, this was a special day in his life and it was for the rest of us.

As we said our goodbyes, and took our time to kiss him, the most special kisses that day came from Liam to his great-granny Ruth and Gigi.