Growing up, my family had assigned seats at the dinner table. My father sat at the head of the table with my mother to his right and my brother to his left. It was very important to my father that the head of the table be designated as his seat. Even when my dad was away on business trips-which he was often as a camera salesman-we would never sit in his seat during dinner.

I always sat next to my mother and my sister sat next to me. My sister’s seat happened to be at the other head of the table, under the kitchen clock. We called her chair the “clock chair,” and, as a child, I was very jealous that she got the clock chair while I had an ordinary seat at the table

I continued with the tradition of designated seats at the dinner table with my own family. Interestingly, while sitting at the head of the table was extremely important to my father, my husband felt differently, and he and I sit side by side at the table.

Where is your seat at the table?