Chapter 12 - THE DINING TABLE DISAPPEAREDNoah stopped eating in the dining room.
For months.
He preferred the kitchen island.
Sometimes the couch.
Anywhere else.
I didn’t force it.
Then one day, he asked:
“Can we get rid of the table?”
I looked at the long walnut table.
Wedding gift.
Expensive.
Meaningless now.
“Yes.”
We donated it.
No symbolic burning.
No destruction.
Just gone.
Then we bought a round table.
Smaller.
No head.
No under-table space large enough for a child to disappear unnoticed.
Noah chose the chairs.
Mason picked placemats.
Terrible placemats.
Bright blue with cartoon sharks.
I hated them.
Which made the boys love them more.
Our first dinner there was pizza.
No hierarchy.
No steak versus crumbs.
No “real family.”
May you like
Just two boys arguing over the last slice.
That sounded like family to me.
