Dedicated to our families’ traditions…
and to Grammy.

It was a typical November day in the Pacific Northwest: gray, damp, and cozy. My daughter, Karlene, was home for the first time since leaving for college. We drove up to Anacortes, Washington, on Fildalgo Island, the largest of the San Juan Islands, where my parents live. Along the way we picked up my grandma, Karlene’s “grammy,” my mom’s mom. Four generations sitting around the dining room table overlooking the crashing November waves on the beach below my parents’ home. My dad built a crackling fire in the fireplace. Our goal: Now that we have given our families the dinners, how do we help them have a successful dinnertime?

With all four generations of dinnertime participants, we came up with some tried-and-true family practices for the successful dinnertime. It was a bittersweet time for our family. Grammy had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed away less than a month after this special day. I am so grateful for that day and the wonderful memories we all shared together. This book includes those wonderful memories and more from Tina’s family, too.