Chats around the bar while growing up

No, not the type of bar you go and have a few drinks or shoot darts.  I am referring to the bar that was in our house while I was growing up.

We had many wonderful chats there, shared meals, laughed and loved as a family.  We also sat there to discuss issues, get punished, talk about the game, or just enjoy each others company.  It was located in the kitchen and had four stools, and was placed by the window so you were able to peer out while you were sitting there.  We went through a many barstool, mainly because we kids loved to rock in them, but we always had that same bar.  It had chips, dings and dents, but it was still the center of attention, furniture wise, in our home.  That was always the first place we sat when we got home from school or practice, and the first place we would plunk down when we got up in the morning.

When we moved the bar stayed.

But when my folks moved back to the area in a new home, there was a new bar and barstools.  Then more memories were created.  There were good memories like sitting around the bar having a holiday dinner, laughing and loving, and there were bad memories like sitting around the bar on that cold December night when my Mom passed away, talking and crying and just being together as a family.

We learned about love and loss, made friends, played games and had many chats there. 

If only the bar could talk the stories it could tell.