Watching the movie, Eat With Me, not only made me nostalgic, it reminded me how food has the power to bring people together. Sharing a meal is an opportunity to gather together, form connections, and strengthen relationships with others.

Whether it's because of a special occasion, to celebrate a holiday, or even as part of a routine practice, "breaking bread" together allows us to catch up on the details of each other's lives and talk about current events and things going on in the world around us. Sitting around a dinner table is the perfect opportunity to communicate with family, friends, and even colleagues. Many successful business deals are done over lunch at a restaurant. Birthdays, graduations, and other accomplishments and milestones are frequently celebrated during family dinners. While a shared meal is often a time to commemorate a special event, it can also be a time to comfort a loved one, attempt to cheer them up, or offer encouragement.

When I think about the role that food and the sharing of meals has played in my life, I'm comforted by my memories. Although I have mostly fond memories, I can also recall some tough times I've had to endure, but were lucky enough to do so surrounded by tables full of family and friends. There was the bite to eat at a diner with my best friend from elementary school and the dinner at a restaurant with friends from college—both long overdue. There was live music playing in the background the last time I had dinner with my best friend, unaware that he would soon lose his battle with cancer only a few short months later. There was the dinner my family and I shared at one of my uncle's favorite restaurants following his untimely death and the comfort I have in knowing that the last time he and I spent together was when I took him out to dinner for his birthday. There were countless birthday celebrations, graduation dinners, annual barbecues, family breakfasts at the local diner, going away and welcome home meals over the years…

Even the preparation of a home-cooked meal can be a fun, bonding experience. I remember helping my mom prepare many Easter dinners and New Year's Day gatherings for our huge family over the years. I recall how hard my wife and I worked together to prepare our first family holiday dinner as a married couple in our new home and the delicious Thanksgiving meals we've planned and prepared together for family and friends ever since.

People often use meals to break news or make announcements. I've experienced both the good and the bad from others—the break-up of a relationship and the announcement that I was going to be an aunt. It was over a Sunday morning breakfast that I finally came out to my mother and dinner at a Mexican restaurant years later when I finally came out to a good friend. Over a family dinner at her brother's house, my wife and I shared the exciting news of our engagement with her family.

In fact, since my wife and I met, food has been an integral part of our relationship. I can still remember what we both ordered at the Manhattan restaurant we went to on our first date, the surprise family dinner I threw for her at an Italian restaurant when she graduated with her Master's Degree, the steakhouse we patronized with my mother after closing on our new house, our quest for the best bison burger in the Midwest, the welcome-to-the-family dinner her relatives had for us after we got married, and the scrumptious meal we were both too excited to finish at our very own wedding reception. Side note—I gladly finished both of our leftovers the following day. I'm very fortunate that my wife is an absolutely sensational cook who delights in planning and preparing homemade meals for the two of us. There's nothing better than sitting down with the person you love most in the world and with every bite, knowing how much they love you.

It's been said that food brings comfort and I absolutely agree. I'm fortunate to have so many warm, delightful, and joyful memories made at family gatherings and around extra long dinner tables. I'm grateful for every opportunity to have plenty of food to share with plenty of company in an atmosphere where there is plenty of love. There's always enough to go around for everyone and I look forward to helping myself to seconds, and thirds...Bon appetit!