"A Literary, Culinary Experience"

Last night my mother-daughter book group (which has been sans daughters for many years) met in a book-themed restaurant.  We usually gather in each other’s homes but decided to check out this literary eatery Debbie had suggested.  A quote on their website reads: “A good meal or a perfectly poured drink, like a good book, can nourish the soul.” The restaurant décor displayed books everywhere, as if it was wallpapered in books. There were framed pictures of Sylvia Plath, Jack Kerouac and Ernest Hemingway, to name a few.

We had never been there before and made an early reservation for 5:30, seeming even earlier due to the fact that it was now daylight savings time.  We arrived and the place was packed.  “What a family-oriented restaurant!” Debbie exclaimed, when we saw so many little kids at each table. Then we noticed that so many of the little girls were wearing light blue gowns and had gold paper crowns on the table.

Elsa from Frozen was coming to visit!  She would take pictures with every table.  Frozen was playing on one of three TVs overhead. The loud chatter in the room and the closeness of the tables made talking to each other practically impossible. Should we leave or should we order wine, was the question we faced.  We ordered wine and asked to move to a larger table a bit more secluded, which was all set up but not occupied.  A few minutes later, since no one showed up there, they agreed to move us. 

Now we could sip our wine, order dinner and talk about the book.  It was still quite noisy for another hour, but then the kids left and we had a very good discussion about Olive Kitteridge.  We agreed that it was beautifully written. There were passages that just swept me away.  But sometimes it was confusing to read separate vignettes and remember how characters were connected to each other and Olive.  We then proceeded to talk about our own grown kids’ adventures, our aging parents or in-laws’ situations, and the looming Coronavirus pandemic.  Unsettling times. 

I love this group of women. We’ve known each other since our daughters were in 4^th grade. We have navigated so many important and intense moments in our daughters’ lives and our own.  These are my people, and this group is one of life’s wonderful gifts.