Do you remember when Ashley was a toddler and we’d go camping at Yogi’s and she’d run around telling people her name was Ashley and then later demanding to know “Do you remember my name?!?!” It didn’t take long for the rest of us to become “Ashley’s family.” It was a “thing”… we were Ashley’s family, we had no names, and we were fine with that! She didn’t understand the word stranger and how do you convince a toddler that the 50 people eating dinner at grandmas are “family” and it’s ok to let them hug you, and the 50 people eating at Yogi’s are strangers? When she was about 6 years old or so, she’d frankly state that they weren’t strangers, “they are just friends I haven’t met yet!”
Over the years she has kinda learned the difference between a stranger and “friend you haven’t met yet” but she’ still very outgoing and loves to meet people.
Flash forward to tonight…
We are at La Fogata and have been coming here for what… 5 years now? As we were eating and visiting with Jaime, the lights suddenly dimmed, changing the atmosphere and mood of the restaurant. I teased Jaime and said it was apparent that we needed a romantic mood with 4 kids at our table! He replied that the owner had just arrived and he liked the lights dimmed. We have seen him several times before, he “kinda” knows who we are and has even given up his table to us in the past when the restaurant was packed and we wanted to be in Jaime’s section 😉 But we have never officially met him… yet.
Ashley stated matter of factly that it was about time, that she was going to march over there and introduce herself. We believed her. She started teasing Heather to go with her but we all decided that she should do this herself… Ashley style. And she did.
Next thing we know, she is over at the bar, shaking hands, pointing at us and carrying on a conversation about God only knows what, with the owner of La Fogata. We are all laughing, not because we are embarrassed, but because we know exactly what is transpiring “Hi my name is Ashley…” and the rest of us are about to become “Ashley’s family”…. again!
Several minutes later, the owner walks Ashley back to our table and says “THAT WAS AWESOME!” He introduced himself as Scott, said we should have no trouble remembering his name 😉 and offered us a free appetizer. Since our food was already headed out, he promised it for our next visit. Later, as we were leaving, he shook Ashley’s hand again, remembering her name, inquired about her high school and made Jaime promise to give us the appetizer on our next visit.
Yup… we are “Ashley’s Family”… and I don’t know about the rest of them… but I am totally fine with that!