As well as eating healthful fare, we need to nourish our spirits with sustaining relationships.

Last weekend, at least four generations of aunts, uncles, cousins and more cousins gathered at a local lake for our annual family reunion. Despite sweltering temperatures, we ate, we laughed, we caught up on family news and we recounted old stories.

For more than a half-century, our Donofrio reunion has been our touchstone. A place to return to our roots, to remember what makes us us.

When my Italian immigrant grandparents struggled to feed, clothe and nurture their family of nine through wartime and the Great Depression, they had no idea of the legacy they would leave. Not a monetary legacy of course, but a legacy of faith and rich relationships that would endure for decades.

As we mindfully fuel our bodies with nourishing food, we can’t forget to carve out time to spend with those we love. It can only be good for our hearts.