‘Gathering’ elevates the everyday place at the table
COMMENTARY about so much more.”
For Doucette, the moment sparked not only a professional epiphany but also a book: “The Gift of Gathering: Beautiful Tablescapes to Welcome and Celebrate Your Friends and Family.”
Out this month from Harvest House, just in time for Thanksgiving, the book features dining tables Doucette has dressed for every season. Alongside centerpieces and silverware, she dishes up heaping helpings of her philosophy.
“We have enough rushed meals throughout the year,” she said when I called to talk about her book, and shamelessly get some ideas for my Thanksgiving table. “When you take the time to make the table special, you elevate the experience for everyone.”
Suffice it to say, she’s not a fan of eating dinner out of a Chinese takeout box in front of the television.
“I want the time we spend together during a meal to make everyone at the table feel as if they matter,” she said. “After all, the role of home is to build us up.”
Who can argue? After the hearth, the dining table is a home’s most symbolic feature. It’s where we eat, connect, celebrate, pray, toast, talk, bond, slip scraps to the dog and, ideally, learn a few manners.
None of that is lost on Doucette.
As the year’s most symbolic dinner approaches, I thought it fitting to talk tables with someone who has given them a lot of thought. Here’s a snippet from our conversation:
How much I appreciated the lessons my mom and grandmother taught me growing up. When they asked me to help set the table, I used to roll my eyes. Now I understand the richness in that, and why we need to honor this act, because gathering around a table with family and