Last Updated on April 20, 2017
If I close my eyes, I can still hear the familiar sound of the click-clack, clickity-clack my little red radio flyer made as it came hobbling down the road. Still day dreaming, I recall my favorite black converse sneakers covered in dust from the unsettled dirt road I walked upon each Saturday morning as I made my way to our neighborhood grocery store. Located just a few minutes from my childhood home, the trip to the grocers seemed at least a mile away to my small, ten-year old frame.
Like clockwork, I would park my wagon outside A & P Grocery, and recognize the same, friendly faces that stopped by the store each week hoping to find something to please the hungry breakfast-lovers back at home. Just like the others, I made my way through the narrow aisles looking for the ingredients that would satisfy the list my mother sent with me, as well as items to make up my famous Saturday morning breakfast special—coffee, eggs and bacon.
As soon as I returned home, it didn’t take long for the pleasant aroma of bacon to fill the house; after a few quick lessons from my mom, I had developed quite a love for cooking. I could whip up breakfast in no time! Carefully assembling two plates filled with sustenance to break the night’s fast, I tiptoed upstairs and into my parents room. Their eyes— filled with delight and appreciation for the loving effort I’d put into making their morning special— quickly reminded me why this Saturday morning tradition was one of the best moments of my week.
Today, when asked what home means to me, the memories that come racing back are always the moments I spent as a young child cooking Saturday morning’s breakfast for my parents. And of course, I’m always happy to be surrounded by happy memories of my childhood during any family gathering, where I am affectionately known as the “Breakfast Chef.”
What does home mean to you? For most, home is a place where you feel most “at home.” It’s a respite, a comfortable environment, a place where pride is learned and you are pushed to be your best. Home is the place you share with the ones you love the most.
At Allen Tate, home means everything to us.
Because the best moments— the moments that remind you just how sweet life really is— happen at home.
