The Kitchen Table
/I read an article in Meridian Magazine a few years ago and it said, “The kitchen table in our home is a special place. Although the table is but a physical object, it is the Spirit in my mother’s heart that makes it sacred.” This article reminded me of the kitchen tables in my own life.
Our first kitchen table was given to us as a wedding gift from my husband’s parents in 1983. I love them as much as I love that table. It was sturdy and withstood the daily pounding of three children and their friends for nearly 25 years. That was the time when honey stained oak was the popular wood in home building, along with country blue, mauve, ducks on your wallpaper, and matching ceramic kitchen canisters – yes it was the height of home décor in the 80’s. I crawled under it one day, just before we moved, to discover the entire bottom of it was covered with children’s artwork . . . all done in dark #2 pencil! The kids held their breath and thought they were going to be in trouble, but I loved what I saw. The names of their cousins and signatures were there as well. We still have that first table. It has served many other purposes in the past few years, including being covered with a beautiful pink hand-woven ribbon tablecloth, to hold our last daughter’s wedding cake at her fairy tale outdoor reception. And then again for our son’s reception as well. I will never be able to part with it or the memories it holds.
When we moved to our newly built home in 2007, our family had grown and we needed more space for everyone to sit at the same table. It became my quest to find the perfect square table for the kitchen nook, with the ability to expand to double its size. None of the new tables had the feeling and spirit I was looking for. One day I drove past Euro Treasures Antique Store in Salt Lake City and my car seemed to turn into the small parking lot on its own. I wasn’t even shopping for a table that day. I walked into the very large warehouse filled to the brim with the most amazing collection of antiques I had ever seen! There were so many pieces stacked high above my head, it made me giddy. I later learned it was the largest collection of antiques in the United States, and had been largely purchased from one tenant in Liverpool, England. Through the years the selection has gotten smaller and smaller. Euro Treasures has now sold their building and has a lease with the new owner through to the Fall of 2020. However, they are still generally open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am – 6:00 pm. There were so many rooms and floors I worried I might get lost! As I walked into a new room, there it was, the table of my dreams – and yes it was oak. Not the honey colored oak of the 80’s, but rather quarter-sawn oak from the old country that had the patina to show it beauty and age. I asked the price and swallowed my tongue, but there was no question, I HAD to have that table.
I negotiated a slightly lower price and put it on layaway making monthly payments on it for a year, thank goodness the recession hadn’t quite hit us yet. I made the last payment just about the time the bottom fell out of the economy and my husband’s commission checks stopped abruptly. When I confessed that I had been paying on a table for over a year, he was a little upset with me, however, when the table was delivered, all was forgiven. Even through those long years of the recession, he said to me many times, “I Love That Table! I’m so glad you got it!” It truly is the heart of our home. It’s as if it were built specifically for the place where it sits.
We have enjoyed many meals with family and friends at this table. The thick turned legs are strong and sturdy, the top is magic as it folds out at both ends to accommodate all of our family members, and then fold back to the perfect size for daily use. My husband sits there each morning for his daily scripture study; we play games there together – sometimes just the two of us. I can’t help but wonder the stories that old table could tell if it could talk. I have even imagined that quite possibly, the owners could have been some of our ancestors from England who sold it to make their way here to the Salt Lake Valley. I imagine a faithful wife and mother wiping it down for the last time as it was taken away. I see her sweep the floor for the last time, placing the broom in the corner, and closing the door behind her to board the ship “Horizon” for the long voyage to begin a new life here in America.
I am a firm believer that temporal things can also be spiritual in nature. And I know kitchen tables fit into this category. May we all take the time to sit at our own kitchen tables as many times each day as we can, to reflect on the blessings of family and friends, and a place to renew lifelong relationships as we continue to “Be the Light” in other’s lives.