Tonight, at King’s Fish House, Rene and I met my dad, my sister and brother-in-law, his mother, and my brother and his wife for some oysters and other specialties of the sea. I had been waiting for this meal for months. I knew that I would be ordering the lobster, and when it came, it was opulent.

In addition to its culinary pleasure, tonight’s gathering gave me the dreamy feeling that you get after a well-appreciated meal, lingered over with good conversation. Just as with friends or kindred spirits, to enjoy a dinner like this with family was doubly special.

We talked about legendary family stories:

* how my brother and I blew up the barbeque grill
* how my uncle electrocuted his entire trade-school class
* how, after rolling his car and loosing all his brake fluid, my brother coasted down Mt. Lemon by downshifting and using the emergency brake
* how the drive shaft dropped out of my 1981 Toyota truck and catipulted the bed of the vehicle three feet in the air before the shaft snapped – and how, despite no power to the real wheels, we completed the trip from Flagstaff to Tucson by locking the front wheels in 4 wheel drive.

We recalled more car accidents, run-ins with electricity, incidents with b.b. guns and other well-known, favorite, family tales. So that, when the key lime pie came with the single, lit candle, my bon jour wishes had already come true.