Those of us who stayed at the table were clutching our stomachs and bent double, our faces almost in the plates of food in front of us. My oldest son got up from the table and ran out of the room screaming! This was a common scene at our home at family dinner times. Our youngest son had just told us what had happened at school earlier on that day. Dinner, the only meal that we were able to have together as a family was the time to unwind, talk about our day and tell stories. As a result, we all looked forward to dinner. Needless to say, many of the stories were spiked and tweaked to cause laughter but we did not mind at all.

We have lived in five different countries and two continents. Each time we have moved, we have only had each other for a while before we made news friends. The dinner table quickly became for us a venue to debrief and share our struggles and feelings. we have become so addicted to story telling at dinner time that although our children are no longer teenagers, we still tell each other stories whenever we find ourselves together at a dinner table.

I grew up in a family where dinner time was a time for telling stories and it has caught on with my siblings and their families too. Once a year, my siblings and their families and our family get together and even at these larger get togethers stories are still traded! I pray that my children will carry on this wonderful tradition with their own families.

Many people have commented on how close-knit our family seems to be. Our three children are good friends and can spend hours together just trading stories. Story telling has definitely improved our family communication.

Learn more about this author, Nellie Shani.
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