Family Brunch

Grey clouds fill the sky. Sprinkles of rain fall through the chilly atmosphere. Though the sun is hidden, cars roar down the streets on their way to Sunday brunches and church service. Only a few people sit in the restaurant on this particular morning. A few couples, along with some single guests, sit, reading their morning paper, sipping mugs of coffee. A family piles into a booth, almost immediately ordering coffee for the parents and the kids, hot chocolate. Perfect beverages for a chilly morning like this. I notice later on, they all order pancakes, and a couple sides of sausage. I’m curious of their similarity in menu-choice. Maybe it was a coincidence, merely on their likes and dislikes. But still, it would likely to be cheaper with pancakes at home.

Time passes quickly, but still the clouds and wind chill remain.    On a gloomy day like this, I feel something warm & soothing would be the perfect choice. Patrons must agree; bowls of menudo & posole leave the kitchen one after the other. I can only think now nice it’d be to lay in bed with a hot bowl of soup myself, but alas I am here, maintaining the flow of people in the restaurant. 

It appears to me that Sunday is a day for family. It’s cliché, yes, but one after the other, families enter, seemingly more so than other types of groups. A family of four sits near the door, a boy in an orange shirt looks to be about 12, his brother (?) maybe 15. The four share each entrée with one another, a family style lunch, appropriately for a family such as them.

Another family sits across the room. In comparison, they are younger. Two small girls, and a crying infant cradled by a youthful looking mother. I eavesdrop walking by, and the girls are planning their Halloween costumes. Even though the end of October is a month away, the girls seem to be eager. (Their mother seems too preoccupied in attempts to calm her third child, however.)

Meanwhile, the boy in the orange shirt is telling his brother a story. He sort of looks to be fishing for a sense approval from his brother, as he keeps repeating the punchline-  something concerning a mustache. The older boy looks unamused, rather focusing on his food (certainly a priority for a teenage boy). Eventually, Orange Shirt motions a mustache with his index finger to reiterate, but still the brother’s reaction is not as expected. (I thought his finger ‘stache was quite humorous.)

Families’ smaller in size were also among the bunch, many couples of all ages. Young couples hold hands as they walk in, sit closely and are intimate with one another. Even a waiter’s girlfriend surprises him by coming to see him. Conversely, older couples are less touchy- less public with affection. (Which I question, do relationships lack passion ad intimacy with age??) One couple in particular exchange very little as they eat, at least from what I can hear each time I pass by. Whereas a couple a young couple beside them were kissing and snuggling in the booth so much, I’m not sure they realized food was sitting in front of them. Certainly with no consideration for others around them.

Thunder continues to rattle the skies outside, raindrops roll down windows. The day turns into afternoon and the restaurant clears out from the lunch rush. The small amount of customers make the atmosphere of the open room feel intimate; a cozy environment shielded from the chill of the outdoors. Time rolls by and I am thankful. It is a perfect day to curl up with hot tea and share a meal with my own family.