I eat alone in restaurants more than I probably should. And there is this problem I have with listening to the conversations going on around me that can only bring no good. I mean really, who likes being eavesdropped upon?

Last weekend after church I went to Olive Garden. I'm a fan of the Peach Bellini tea and anyhow, there was this table of three kinds and their grandparents sitting next to me. The kids were the typically high school age (I'd guess soph/junior) They all had cell phones that they sometimes checked when their grandparents weren't looking. But what I was amazed and a little envious of was their conversation. The grandparents asked very specific questions about school. Not the general "how's school" but more like, what are you learning in Spanish class. To which the teenagers gave very articulate responses. And then somehow they got into a discussion about their grandfather's active duty in World War II and the kids were asking all sorts of questions.

I just found it very heartwarming.

This evening I was watching Lidia's Family Table. She had on her mother who was 86 when the show was taped and full of spunk which reminded me so much of my own grandmother. I miss my grandparents. I wonder what they would have shared about their life had they lived longer and had I been more articulate in asking. My one grandfather died when I was very young. My other grandfather when I was in 3rd grade. My grandmothers survived a little longer and I remember them with the most clarity but there's still stuff I don't know about them because by the time I wanted to know (soph/junior year) my one grandmother was already in late stages of alzheimer's and my other grandmother only shared so much. Like there was this line you just didn't dare cross. She'd tell you everything she knew about everyone else. And I say that with a smile. Lidia's Table's mom reminds me of that grandma...full of spunk.