Our Table
Everything happens here, Grandson commented, as we plopped those pizza boxes upon
and reminisced about …
this happy spot,
where good things always happen.
& ooooooh, the cascade of memories released within this sincerity filled comment.
Because I love this table,
I mean really, REALLY.
and if it could talk,
woah.
if this unassuming, kitchen fixture could only talk
….
There were 8 of us around that table most evenings.
Everyone had their spot.
Older Brother sat directly across from me and sometime or another during every. single. dinner. he would set his feet upon my knees.
He knew it would bug me
and he would laugh as I’d make an irritated comment and push them off.
Somewhere down our sibling road, I began a quest to get his socks.
I figured if he would insist on pestering, by golly, those buggers were coming off
& in alllllll the years I’ve been trying, I was successful only once.
He’s fast
but to this very day, if we end up sitting across from each other, those feet still manage to find my knees.
That table sat through many a meal.
Breakfast, at least for me, always included a bowl of Raisin Bran.
Yum.
In the late teen / early twenty years I would happily huddle with my bowl of cereal, glass of oj and the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.
ahhhh .
It was my quiet zone, before the day became noisy.
The newspaper was set up magazine style
and I suppose it could have been divided in sections if someone else wanted to read, but I don’t remember ever splitting it up.
One would wait their turn,
simple as that.
Younger Brother had an insistent habit of joining me in my shhhhhh glee.
He would plant himself across the table and stare.
STARE.
& he would continue that stare until I broke and ! gaaaaa !
handed over that newspaper.
And I did.
I always did.
The pressure was just too much.
He was always so kind and appreciative as he enthusiastically received this daily gift, though.
You sure you don’t want it ?
! ! Thanks !!
. . .
That table and the things it has seen.
Birthday parties
Halloween pumpkin carvings
Thanksgiving and Christmas food settings
Easter egg coloring
& just the random, day to day, stuff of life.
It was a place to sit and ponder, laugh with friends, stress over homework, cry over bad days, play board games when bored, color, doodle, scribble notes, help a puzzled crossword puzzler figure it out, BIG groceries, cold beer….
wow
When Mom and Dad decided to redecorate, this beauty moved to our house
and
boom
Those moments began all over again with a new generation
& another, after that …
So.
YaY
Hey, Grandson ?
Thank you for this priceless minute and brand new memory.
& you know how I always say life’s simple pleasures are THE. ABSOLUTE. BEST. ?
It’s. TRUE.
♥