Table Memories

The the editor:

I recently ran across this letter that I had sent to the Editor a few years ago. In these times of turmoil and change, I thought it would be a nice piece to reprint and remember the things that mean the most, especially after the Easter season. Here it is.....

I just sold my dining and kitchen table that I have had for over 45 years. I find it hard to believe that I can ever write that I had something for over 45 years. Where do the years go?

I am in the cycle of life, where I am looking to downsize to a smaller home and will need smaller furniture. The young couple who purchased my table, sent me a picture of the table in their dining area with their five children seated around it, munching on lunch. I had to smile, almost laugh out loud. It was a precious picture and at that moment, I recalled all the countless memories around that table with my own children and family members. There were also the wonderful, and sometimes, not so wonderful, meals we shared, some with other family members, some with friends, some between homework assignments, and mostly just me and the kids. I cherished those times we’d sit, eat, and visit, which now are hard to come by. My children have grown up and are raising their children around their kitchen table.

There were the times we sat there with tears, over the death of a parent or grandparent, or the loss of a friend, or a beloved family pet. There were even moments of anger and frustration, when the children would request to do something, and I didn’t feel it was the right time of their lives, and of course, I then became the mean Mom.

Through the years, my table was festively adorned with holiday decor, piles of school books, mounds of laundry to fold, mail to go through, and school projects to finish. Some meals we used the fine china, some meals were leftovers and paper plates, some from a fast food place, and many were party meals, for Halloween, birthdays, confirmation, and Superbowl. And I can’t forget all the fingerprints the grandchildren left. The table held up well, in fact, as we say of things of yesterday, “they don’t make them like this anymore.”

I told a close friend, when my table was leaving my house, I almost got a little choked up for all the memories of that old table. My friend, who is a pretty smart cookie, simply said, “the table may have left your house, but you still have the memories.”

Glynis Tietjen, La Grange