Forming a Love of Family History

by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

One of the transformative moments of my life occurred when my grandfather, Edward Gates, died in 1960. I was ten years old. Following his burial, my father showed me my grandfather's scrapbooks. And there, buried in those yellowing pages of newsprint, was an obituary--the obituary, to my astonishment, of our family matriarch, an ex-slave named Jane Gates. "An estimable colored woman," the obituary said, also mentioning that she had been a mid-wife. "That woman was Pop's grandmother," my father said, quietly. "She is your great-great-grandmother. And she is the oldest Gates."

Reaping the Many Benefits of Family Dinners

by Anne Fishel, Ph.D.

As a therapist, I often see families at my home office in the late afternoon. Many days, as I race downstairs, hoping to restore the brittle ties between moody teens and their discouraged parents, I throw a chicken into the oven first. As the smells build, I have the fantasy of saying: "Don't waste your time here. Go home right now and cook a meal and eat it together. Here are some recipes. Now, go." Instead, I often make mealtime a focus of therapy, and I have found that many disconnected families find their way back to each other through a nightly commitment to family dinners. Why this zeal about family dinners?

Inspiring Kids to Love Their Differences

by Karen Walrond

Over the Christmas holidays, my husband Marcus, our 7-year-old daughter, Alex and I found ourselves in a local coffeehouse. This particular cafe also happens to be famous for making some of the best cupcakes in Houston, so it was a little treat for us to have hot chocolate, cappuccinos and dark chocolate cake balls so early in the chilly December Day.