My wishes for the new year

Today, while I was cooking, my mind has escaped for a moment from where it was and has moved me to a large, very large kitchen, with pale furniture and lots of light; a kitchen with a very large island in the center, and a huge window that overlooked a garden with a beautiful lawn and my small garden in one corner.

Around me the kids played while they waited for me to finish preparing the food. Little Jan began to complain from his seat, but he smiled when I gave him a stick of bread to silence his hunger. That way I could finish cooking quietly, with my cotton apron, which by some miracle was still white.

In the kitchen there was a tall glass vase, with a bouquet of flowers that gave color to the kitchen. I, as usual, smiled while cooking, and I was thinking about how happy the children were, how well they got along and how good they are. Because they really are!

I also imagined that soon there would be more family meals, full of copious meals that are surrounded by beautiful and repeated stories that we all know, but that always lead to joint laughter and jokes among the regulars. They are meals in which one escapes from the rush of day to day, from the nerves of work, from the worries that we all suffer, and you can relax for a while with those you love most. They are moments that make us feel good, at peace, full, calm, happy.

And a bit of all that is what I want for this coming year, for me and for each one of you. I am referring to that dream kitchen -which for some will not be a kitchen, but it will be something else well desired-, and I am also referring to those moments of peace and joy with the family.

May you be very happy!