Liberty and Lily: With A Song In Her Heart

I remember many years ago someone in the family offered to buy my mother-in-law an automatic dishwasher as a present. She didn't want one. She enjoyed sharing time at the sink too much, she said - one person washing, one drying, both chatting or just being there. Thanks, but no thanks, she said. It would cut into her family time.

I thought it was a silly excuse at first (likely a coded way of discouraging someone from throwing money around like that) - and then I remembered the fun I used to have in Grandma's kitchen during family reunions. Working together - whether fixing food or cleaning up after meals - provided some of the best times of all, whether I was working with cousins or aunts or uncles or a grandparent. Dishwashing, done properly, makes the rest of the world go away for a while, I think ;-).

Donna-Jean's family does it one better - they add singing.