Goodbye Old Friend

Well, another "last" slipped by without anyone even noticing until it had passed. Our final family meal was shared several nights ago at the $150 dining set that I purchased from K-Mart almost 9 years ago.

That table was perfect for my little apartment in Mission's teacher housing. The biggest thing it had to worry about was the Cake Challenge group that was served from it every couple of months. I sat at that table to study my Bible, grade papers and type lesson plans, and to address hundreds of invitations to the wedding that would mean a new address for "the little table that could".

The summer of 2003, it was loaded up and moved to the duplex in Lexington that Bill and I first called home. That table was perfect for the two of us! Sharing meals at that table was one of the first times that Bill and I realized that we had a different idea about what it would be like to be married, and in this case, eat our meals together. Growing up, his family was rather "flexible" about where they ate their evening meals, whether it be at the table or in the living room watching tv, whereas mine never ate supper anywhere but the kitchen table. It was never a problem. There was just one evening where he commented on how different it was to eat at the table every night. And it had honestly never occurred to me that we would eat anywhere else.

Gradually, things got a little tighter as our family grew and moved to another house in Lex, an apartment in Sioux Falls, a farmhouse in Inwood, IA, our little house on Prairie, and finally to the Dreamsicle, but with the help of a booster chair and a kid table when guests joined us, that little table faithfully served as our family gathering spot. Cookies were cut, babies' first bites of solid foods served, crafts were glued, glittered, painted, and cut there. Covered in blankets, it made a great fort. It even served as my makeshift tornado shelter once when we lived in a house without a basement and the only bathroom was on the second floor. That poor table has the scars and stains to fill volumes with its stories!

But alas, even with the aid of the booster chair and now some folding chairs, our dining set was just not cuttin' it anymore. When my mom asked if we'd be interested in her old dining set, when she purchased a new one, it was an offer I couldn't refuse. This morning, with hardly the fanfare that it deserved, my little K-Mart table was shoved aside to make room for something bigger, but certainly not better. And I couldn't quite bring myself to bid that old friend farewell.

It now sits in the basement, piled high with treasures, just waiting for me to be inspired to use my new CRAFT table!