I would like to commend writers Walker Larson and Louise Chambers for their complementary pieces on family life, “A Tradition That Nourishes Hearts and Minds” and “A Family Experiment: Fasting from TV,” respectively [published in the Sept. 6–12 edition].
As one of nine children from a middle-class working family with a stay-at-home mom and a working dad who was a carpenter, at a time when TVs were larger than today’s washing machines and only came in black and white, these two stories hit home. Family dinner, or as we called it, “supper,” was pretty much a sacred time. Two children would set the table, tablecloth, place settings, while others would help mom get ready for the eventual arrival of dad from work. It wasn’t until dad was home that we all sat down as a family to eat. The TV was in the den and was never on during meals, nor did any of us ever ask to take her dinner into that room.
