Lianne Castelino of whereparentstalk.com speaks to Sarah Smiley, mother of three and author of the book, ‘Dinner with the Smileys’.

Upon learning of her husband’s deployment to Africa for a year, Smiley and her sons decided to invite a guest once a week to dinner, to compensate for the loneliness of not having Dustin Smiley at the dinner table. The unique idea led to the family having a range of guests at their dinner table from teachers and musicians to Olympic gold medalists. The sense of community and shared experiences the family enjoyed are chronicled in the book, released May 2013.