It wasn't the four dessert choices at my mother's 90th birthday celebration that stayed with me. It was the conversation that unfolded around them. We found ourselves talking about faith, family traditions and the things that get passed down from one generation to the next.
The next morning, I took my two young nieces to the Atlantic Beach Farmers Market while their mom settled into the whirlwind of moving into a new home. We met up with family visiting from Indiana and Nashville for the birthday celebration, including my niece and her 10-week-old daughter, sleeping peacefully in her stroller.
The morning yoga-in-the-park session had just ended . As participants rolled up their mats and made their way home, my brother slipped easily into an open parking spot.
As we wandered through the market, I found myself thinking again about those conversations from the night before. The more I watched people greeting neighbors, introducing visiting family members and lingering over conversations, the more I realized that some of the traditions we pass down are created in moments just like these.
That sense of connection is why I love bringing people to our local markets. If you want to give someone a feel for this community, this is one of the first places I'd bring them.
We have more convenient options than ever before, and many of them make life easier. And yet, despite all of our other choices, we still seem to crave places where we can gather.
At local farmers markets, people slow down long enough to linger over a cup of coffee, listen to local musicians, browse the booths and enjoy a tasty treat or meal. There is something refreshing about knowing the people behind what we buy, eat and enjoy — the ones who grow, bake, cook and create.
One of my favorite moments came when a flower vendor handed each of the girls a single flower simply because she wanted to. The delight was immediate.
The girls wandered on through the market with fresh lemonade in one hand and a flower in the other, taking it all in.
I hope they remember the milestone birthdays and holiday gatherings. But I also hope they remember mornings like this and the simple reminder that, even in a world that makes it increasingly easy to go it alone, we still need one another.
Maybe that, too, is something worth passing down.
