Happy New Year! It is hard to believe another new year is upon. Each new year starts with so much hope and excitement. It is such a fun time in our lives. 

Each New Year many people begin with resolutions, goals, hopes and dreams for the upcoming year. I am sure many of you are working hard to make yours a reality. I thought that I would share my New Year’s resolutions with you.

I have always been a “fast eater.” I mean, ridiculously fast. I think part of it was my upbringing, being the youngest of six kids, if you didn’t grab, you oftentimes didn’t get. So, I was accustomed to grabbing for what I needed, to make sure. It wasn’t as if we were a pack of animals, it was just we were so busy. Kids going here and there. To jobs, sports and homework. It sent us in so many different directions all the time. But one thing we never missed out on was eating together, no matter how rushed it may have seemed. Looking back on it now, I don’t think my mom was a great cook, but she sure knew how to feed us. Tater tot casserole, tuna and noodles, lasagna and chili were all staples of the Peters household. To this date, those are some of my favorite things to eat, as they hold such wonderful memories of my family, and especially my mom. 

Isn’t it funny what an important role food plays in our everyday life? It seems like every important event in our lives centers around eating. Holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas offer us a chance to get together with our families to share laughs, fun and food. The summer months offer us cookouts for Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. When we go to a wedding or party there is food to make the celebration complete. Even in the rough times of our lives such as a loss of a loved one, people bring food to families to make it a bit easier to cope. Most funerals I have attended usually have a dinner that follows. 

Food is pretty amazing, and that is what brings me to my New Year’s resolution: I am going to eat slower. I am going to take time to appreciate the taste of the food that has been prepared. I am going to appreciate the company. I promise to listen to the conversations at the table, not always dominating with my thoughts or opinions. I am going to laugh and appreciate the friends and family who make this meal, and every meal, so special. 

I am going to watch those I eat with and I am going to look them in the face and appreciate every feature on their beautiful faces. Their smiles, their eyes, their wrinkles and their voices. It should truly be a special time, a time that will never be exactly repeated. The same food, people and time will never be exactly the same as it is in that moment. I am going to give thanks for the food that is front of me, the food I am eating slowly. I promise to say thank you to those who spent time preparing it, to those who helped serve it, to those who keep the kitchen and place where I am eating clean. I resolve that this year, I am going to look the gift of food and eating as a true blessing from God (it truly is).

So, as we begin 2019 I would ask you, maybe even challenge you, to follow my resolution to eat slower, to savor not only the taste of each bite, but more importantly to savor the people who are sharing that meal. Happy New Year!

— Joe Peters is the principal at St. Victor School in Monroe.