When I look at my dining table, I see a lifetime of stories. We bought this dining set when our third child, Isaac, was born (he’s 31 now). We didn’t know it then, but we were getting ready to fill that eight seat table up!
This is the table I homeschooled our kids at. Where all the celebrations have happened. Birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, daily breakfasts. This is where I spread out my manuscript for my book about homeschooling and where we spread out our favorite pictures to display at my parents’ funerals. This table has been in four different homes, making sure the essentials continue no matter where we are.
There were a few times when I thought we were nearing the end with this table and chairs. Once when we were moving, I thought of getting rid of the chairs because they were so wobbly. But a good friend said he could fix them, and he did! All eight of them!
Another time, during COVID, the markings and swelling from moisture was so bad, I decided to sand it down knowing that if it didn’t work, I was planning to get rid of it anyway. It worked! And it’s still here.
Maybe that’s what I love most about this table. It has never really been about the table. It has been about who was sitting around it. It has held little hands learning to write, teenagers doing homework, family arguments, laughter, tears, prayers, celebrations, and conversations that I’m sure we’ve long forgotten…but somehow the table remembers.
I think homes are like that. We can look at a piece of furniture, a scratch on a wall, or a mark on a door and see something that needs to be replaced. But sometimes those imperfections are reminders of a life well lived. They tell us that people were there, children grew up, meals were shared, and memories were made.
These days, our dining table doubles as a work space most of the time as Arturo and I experience our empty nester season. But in a few weeks we will be celebrating our granddaughter’s birthday and it will again do what it does best, make sure that everyone has a seat at the table to celebrate yet again.