(Editor's Notes by Christina Myer - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

It’s the perfect time of year to stop by farmer’s markets to supplement your weekly (or, at least in my case, it seems almost daily) trips to the grocery store. It’s no wonder so many of us feel better in the summer: It’s not just all the sunshine and fresh air, it’s also the chance to eat garden-fresh heirloom tomatoes and a couple of peaches for dinner just because.

(I have no regrets on that meal.)

The other day, I was cutting up some cucumbers and little green onions to be tossed with a little dressing and eaten a bit at a time throughout the week, and if I closed my eyes, I could have been back in my gran’s kitchen. Of course, she would have been using sour cream rather than Italian dressing, but otherwise, my summer meals aren’t much different from what she served. Unless she was trying to be a little fancier, in which case, I have no idea what the secret was to the fried chicken, but I fear I will never match it.

Frying up some sliced potatoes might take just a couple minutes more than microwaving a dinner, but goodness, the result is so much better. And the smell can carry a person back decades.

Anyway, food has got me feeling more nostalgic lately anyway, and then I had the pleasure of sitting recently with a gathered group of friends and family who ranged through, I think, five generations. What a wonderful time they were having remembering time spent at grandparents’ and other relatives’ houses … with some of the younger ones mentioning items they considered to be “antiques,” and me thinking “wait, I still have one of those …”

All that to say, if you are a person who often has young family members as guests in your home, where they eat, play, laugh with their cousins and just generally feel safe, happy and loved, you are giving them an incredible gift. Memories, lessons and that feeling of knowing you grew up in such a special atmosphere — for the rest of their lives.

Maybe it’ll come back to them many years later in the kitchen. Maybe it will come back when they need it most in a time of struggle. But it will be there for them. You might not realize it now, if you’re in the thick of things — being the person who feeds them, depending on the size of the crew, is a big job in itself — but it’s priceless.

***

Meanwhile, and speaking of priceless, a former piano student of mine (now in her mid-20s — eep, has it been that long?) is a passionate fighter for what she believes is right. Sometimes, then, I see her passing along what she believes to be important posts on social media. It did my heart proud to see this strong, smart, idealistic young woman post something the other day — the sentiment of which she very much supported — but with her own asterisk that a figure used to prove a point in the post was incorrect. The actual number was smaller and therefore, ostensibly less helpful to her cause, but she corrected it, anyway.

She understands inaccuracies, exaggeration or just plain falsehoods NEVER help a cause; and it was important to her to pass along the message, but to get the facts right.

I wish everyone on social media thought the way she does on that front.

But even if they don’t, seeing that from her was a good reminder to me — the kids really are going to be all right.

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com.