The Saturday Ritual

Rituals are an important aspect of life. More than routine, rituals often offer a sense of comfort, familiarity, and mark important passages of time. Over the past few months while Rich has been gone, TJ and I have developed a special Saturday morning ritual: our weekly trip to Hyde's Diner.

How lucky are we that our house is literally 300 steps away from a good, mom and pop greasy-spoon diner? We love it. Its on the corner of our cross street and is built from a single wide trailer and an addition to accommodate the kitchen. It is truly Americana at its best. I am not a big coffee drinker, but Rich will even attest to the fact that the coffee is strong and diner quality "bad"-- whatever that means.

Our family would frequent this diner before Rich's deployment. We know the waitresses. We know the owner. We'd recognize the faces of other patrons. But now, with TJ in tow every Saturday, I can say that I feel like a "regular" and a new sense of community has developed as a result.

Our waitress is usually a young woman by the name of Jessica. She has two children herself, so we often compare notes and cute stories about our children over the week. Without asking, she knows to bring me a diet soda, a small cup of water for TJ, and to bring out the toast as soon as it is ready. TJ and I share our usual breakfast of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage. I eat the pancakes, and believe it or not, TJ usually eats everything else. Man, this kid sure can wolf down his sausage links. He loves 'em.

The owner stops by our table gives TJ a high five and always remarks on how well behaved he is. Another waitress who has a nephew in Afghanistan makes sure to pop by and ask what the latest is from Rich. We both share our count down dates until our loved ones are home. We then shake our heads and both say, "not soon enough."

Every other week there is a "girls morning out" table of middle-aged women. Apparently they get together every so often on Saturdays to dish the latest dirt on their neighbors, share stories about their kids, and complain about their husbands. Cortland's own "Desperate Housewives". If I have the option, I will take an open table next to them just so that I can eeves drop! But more than just listen in, I am also starting to interact more with the other patrons as we start to see the same people week in and week out. They usually comment about TJ (he is an easy conversation starter) and we go from there.

TJ feels right at home at Hyde's. He gets oodles of attention, has great food, and has even ventured back to the kitchen to blow a kiss to the short order cook in appreciation. I think he is well on his way to being a diner regular in his adult life too.

I appreciate this sense of community while Rich is away. It is something I look forward to. It is nice to feel connected in my neighborhood-- even if the conversation is full of small talk. Coming every week helps me appreciate the small town nature of Cortland. And it has also been a way to mark the completion of yet another week on our own.

Thank you, Hyde's for sharing your Saturday mornings with TJ and I. We look forward to seeing you in a couple of days!