Hi Table Family,
Anyone else been feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders? Anyone else wake up afraid to scroll the news?
Let’s do a quick reality rundown: school shootings, earthquakes, gun violence, political chaos… you could add to the list, I’m sure.
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it all. And honestly? I don’t really have the words for a joyful newsletter. There’s just too much grief.
But here’s the thing about grief at 300 W. Hargett Street: at our particular address, grief is nothing new. Hunger, depression, loneliness–we’ve seen it all. We know grief first hand. We know it by name–lots of names, actually.
And that fact – knowing people’s grief first hand – it changes things. At Table, grief is so intertwined with community and hope and good food that it feels different, somehow, than the heaviness of the world. In a way, grief is built into our business model… just as much as good coffee and hugs.
And so in the moment when the world is particularly heavy, here’s our House Rule on grief: BRING IT.
Bring it. Whatever is on your mind, whatever the ‘heavy’ you may carry is called, we are here and we welcome you. Waffles, coffee, community tables. We want to sit in it with you. And we will.
And while I do not have the words this morning, my pal Henri Nouwen does:
“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares.”
The friends at Table care, y’all. And that changes everything.
Always here for a waffle or two with you,
Maggie
PS. I’ve also got some lighter news I can’t wait to tell you more about soon. Hint hint: food truck rodeo–eeekkk!
Our staff close early monthly and we hang with each other, do some sort of training, and/or catch up on all the monthly happenings. We always have a fun icebreaker question. SO..I’ll be asking you the same one in these newsletters. I would love to hear your response back.
Question of the month is…
What is your favorite Girl Scout cookie?