Dear A & L,

I didn’t ask you if it was okay to use your names when writing this letter, hence the initials. And I don’t want you to feel self-conscious, or feel as though your grief and sadness at the loss of your beloved yellow lab Alta is at all on display.

I want you to know how sorry I am for her passing. I want you to know that our hearts stretch and reach out to you during this time. It isn’t simply difficult for you, it is so very difficult for your children. As you said to me, they simply just do not understand why she had to go, what this means, how death happens.

They don’t conceive of why Alta couldn’t stay with you forever. Why she won’t be back to stand watch at the end of their sick bed, or chase crickets through the long grass, or lay in the shade of the trampoline on the ranch.

This bond between us humans and our animals is much, much deeper than I imagined. Especially with a puppy like Alta who really becomes like a first child. If you had said some of those things to me– about how deep the love between a person and their puppy runs, or how they become your family, or how they give so much love to you that is irreplaceable– a few years before we got Bailey, I’d have smiled to myself and thought otherwise.

This territory is HARD. Maybe loosing an animal companion is hard because we know of the inevitability of this event– most dogs will never live as long as their human counterparts. But that doesn’t make it any easier when they depart. Does it make it harder?

I have come to believe strongly that all dogs truly do go to heaven. Your words of love and tenderness toward Alta have swelled my heart. I believe, as you do, that our dear companions are taken home to that Creator who gave them life, and that we are reunited with them as we cross the bar from this life into the next. Maybe Alfred Lord Tennyson said it best:

Sunset and evening star,
And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crost the bar.

The mood this Monday is low– the clouds hang heavy on the mountains, the rain falls quietly and cold. I hope you feel and know that heaven weeps for and with you, too. This love you had is not a small or forgotten thing. Passing time may not ever make it better, or right. There is only the hope of happy meetings in the great beyond.

These seasons and changes, these passings and hopes of restoration– they hit deeply on the nerve of life. Death teaches us the importance of life. It causes us to look to our God and hold those we love closer. Such a lesson never comes easily, and almost always has that heavy, tear-born cry for one more day, one more moment in the sunshine.

May you meet Alta with our Pilot ‘face to face’ in the next saga of this journey– the continuance of life feels sure to me. May you find sweet and comforting solace for your sadness, tender hearts, and pain.

Love,
Megan

Dear Family Dinner Meal Planner,

I am writing this letter to say THANK YOU! I am writing because, not only have you changed family dinner for myself and my family by offering The Six O’clock Scramble Family Meal Planner, you have changed our entire LIVES!!!!!

Just yesterday my youngest son (4 years old) declared, “I was born with an appetite!” I laughed out loud at his mini-bout of braggadocio. He is right. This is the child whose first pediatrician said, “I have never seen a bigger breast-fed baby!”

That kid was born hungry. He is strong, healthy, and heavier than two of most other kids his age put together! I jest. He has also been my biggest challenge when it comes to eating, food, snacks, meal-time, etc. Here on my blog I have fondly referred to him as Chicken Nugget, because it seemed that after his love for mother’s milk the only other food he would request was that– chicken nuggets.

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. Our story of family dinner– and my gratitude and thanks to you, Aviva, for starting, and growing, and sharing, and perfecting The Six O’clock Scramble— began when we got married back in 2008.

Two things were apparent immediately after we tied the knot: first, we needed to have meal plans each week. And second, I didn’t have nearly the repertoire of meals or food prep skills to make dinner-time delicious or enjoyable. In fact, I made some pretty horrible meals!

I’ll never forget one dinner. My husband came home from his demanding publishing job– tired, hungry, ready for a good dinner. I handed him a bowl and he exclaimed, “I love macaroni and cheese from the box!” One bite, and the excitement on his face morphed into a confused, trying-to-hide-disgust facade.

“What is this?” He mumbled through the noodles. The dish was indeed macaroni and cheese from a box, souped up with a standard can of Campbell’s Tomato. I had grown up on this stuff. I was actually crushed he didn’t seem to like it. I was actually starting to cry. “Honey, I just didn’t know what was different about the flavor!” He exclaimed, trying to backpedal. But he was right. It was a horrible meal!

I regrouped. I put together a weekly dinner plan that went something like this: Monday- Greek Salad, Tuesday- Tacos, Wednesday- Boxed Pad Thai, Thursday- Chicken, Friday- Pizza, Weekend– Whatever (probably way too much fast food!!!!). I stuck to this plan exclusively, almost obsessively. I don’t remember how long this went on. It may have even been for a year or more.

The same thing week after week, dinner after dinner. It worked for us for a long time. But finally my husband had had enough. He told me that he couldn’t stand eating Pad Thai for even one more meal. This was sad because, previous to our weekly menu, it had been one of his all-time favorite meals. Now he couldn’t even see it on a restaurant menu without gagging.

Neither of us had the stomach for Greek Salad anymore, and we didn’t really even want to visit our favorite taco stand because we ate them so frequently. We needed HELP! This was probably the darkest time in our quest for family dinner. We moved to a Sunday planning model where I would acridly ask him what he wanted for dinner that week. He would throw out some ideas, some of which I would shoot down, some that I refused to make, a few that I would agree to cook up.

Once I asked my husband what the hardest part of marriage was for him and he replied without missing a beat, “Planning meals.” We hated it. The problems were real, and I now realize they are faced by many, many families. First, it was hard to find meals that were not just delicious or palate appealing, but healthy, as well as time manageable!

Not only that, but I also wanted to set the example of eating healthy, whole, well-balanced meals for my growing family. Our oldest son had now been in a picture for over a year, and I wanted to make sure I was feeding his growing body with the nutrients he needed instead of throwing a few re-heated frozen peas onto his high-chair tray and calling it good.

I could go on, but suffice it to say that AFTER we were introduced to The Scramble, it changed our lives so much that I once found myself calling in to a News Radio program that was asking for dinner planning comments– stories, nightmares, solutions. The Six O’clock Scramble was a veritable SEA CHANGE in our family dinner story.

We found The Scramble through my sister and her husband. In truth, when they told us that they were subscribing to a meal planning service we laughed out loud. In front of them. Yes, we laughed in their faces! Rude. But here’s where we had to eat humble pie.

My sister encouraged me to use her subscription for a two weeks. She couldn’t say enough good about having weekly dinner menus at her finger tips, and a grocery list with EVERYTHING you needed to taser that grocery shopping excursion out in ONE TRIP!!! They also loved the variety of meals they were eating. A different meal every night! Imagine that!

To top it ALL off, the meals were FAST, taking 30 minutes or less to prep. It really did sound TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! We took her offer and used her subscription for two weeks. I was raving. My husband was smiling. When we sat down to evaluate our impressions at the end of two weeks he said, “I’m in. I haven’t eaten even one meal that wasn’t a 9 or a 10 on a 10 point scale.”

The very next day my sister surprised me with a 6 month Scramble Subscription for my birthday. The rest is history. History that has carried us over three years and hundreds of meals later with The Six O’Clock Scramble.

Aviva Goldfarb, you are a revolutionary. You are a woman of the people. You have enable families EVERYWHERE to share in the joy of family dinner! You have changed our lives beyond any other single decision we have made together as a couple. Bold words, but now as I sit at the dinner table surrounded by my husband and our two beautiful boys a peace and joy come into my heart for that moment every. single. day.

And when you ask that same hungry four-year-old what he had for dinner last night you might be shocked to hear he had Hot and Sour Soup without a chicken nugget supplement! 🙂 That same sweet little man, when asked at our family dinner discussions, almost always cites NOW, meaning right here, right now, this moment– FAMILY DINNER– as his favorite part of his day.

Because of you, Aviva, it is MINE TOO!!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart (and the bottom of my belly)!

XX, Megan

P.S.

Aviva posted this video on The Scramble’s Facebook page a few weeks ago. I watched and cried. THIS is why family dinner is so very important! ❤

P.P.S

Many of the meals I post here on my blog are from The Scramble. Here’s what you need to know to subscribe. The Scramble is a meal planning service to which you can subscribe here. For a fantastic price you will receive 8 weekly meals which means 8 recipes (main course plus a side dish), complete grocery list, the ability to tweak the number of people you are making for, and full nutrition facts.

PLUS tips as to how best to PREP your meal beforehand, add a punch of FLAVOR, and how to SLOW COOK almost every recipe if you’re especially slammed that night. This wonderful service really does live up to it’s name. You can come home at 6 p.m. and be sitting down to a DELICIOUS, HEALTHY, HOME COOKED meal by 6:30 p.m. most nights.