Bananas Foster at the Table

Yesterday, after church, the four Fishers who live in Waco drove to Houston. The larger Fisher clan was gathering to celebrate my Mom's 70th birthday. All of us dressed up in our finest suits and ties and gathered for dinner at Brennan's restaurant just south of downtown.

All nine of us (my niece, Vivian, who is 1 years old, stayed home with a sitter) gathered around a large round table. Once again I realized that there is something special when an extended family gathers around the table.

Seated at the table, we asked our very capable waiter to take a group picture. As we smiled for the photo, I was reminded of an old black and white photograph that is still studied by genealogy buffs in my family. The picture was taken around 1910, of great-great Aunt Emma's birthday party. Several generations are able to be identified in the picture, from matriarchs and patriarchs, to toddlers and babies.

I wonder: who might, in 2110, study the picture of us Fishers, gathered around the table for this birthday celebration in 2010?

At the end of the meal, Brennan's signature dessert was served, Bananas Foster, prepared table side, with bananas and liqueur and cinnamon flaming in an impressive culinary display. It is impossible to watch this dessert being made without grinning from ear to ear. The waiter served up these warm savory bananas, spooning them over cold ice cream, setting a dish in front of each one of us.

As we ate up our delectable desserts, I looked through the candlelight piercing the dining room. Each person, from 70 down to 7, was smiling. We were not alone, but a family; a family of matriarchs and patriarchs - and angels, archangels and all the company of heaven - gathered around the Table.