Tables

It is difficult to write about life as usual when I know that many people—in Florida, Puerto Rico, Cuba, South Carolina and other places—are experiencing life that is far from their usual. I have never lost everything. I have never even lost a significant portion of everything. Yes, I have experienced downed trees (even one tall pine tree that fell on our house when we lived in Charlottesville); loss of electricity for over a week (I will be ever grateful that our son was still living with us and was a master of his little camp stove so I could have my morning cup of coffee); and other incidents that were disruptive. But I have never experienced anything like what those experiencing the effects of Hurricane/Storm Ian are enduring right now.

The truth is I think that most of us love the everydayness (is that a word?) of our lives. Oh, we love the special days, the celebrations, the grand occasions, but what we really love and find comfort in are the ordinary, everydayness of our daily lives. At least, I do.

My husband shared a quote from Robert Raines’ book A Time to Live with me this week:

Consider the memorable tables of your life: kitchen table, dining table, bedside, boardroom, and communion table. Shapes and purposes vary, but these are the tables around which family, friends, colleagues, adversaries have sat with you…

It made me think about the tables I have shared in my life and the moments shared around those tables.

Growing up, my family’s table was a simple maple Early American style table that our family of five gathered around for our meals. There were extra leaves to the table so it could be expanded for special occasions when others joined us. I remember that every year at Christmas my mother would climb on top of the table to hang Christmas ornaments on the light fixture over the table. Imagine that! My mother standing on top of the table! It still makes me smile.

I loved the large dining room table at my grandparents’ house as it was a great place to hide beneath, though I do remember getting my hair caught many times in the mechanism that allowed extra leaves to be added. Ouch! They also had a formica table in their kitchen where they would allow me to join them for coffee in the morning. Of course, my coffee was two-thirds milk and sugar with just a dash of coffee. I can remember feeling quite grown up sitting at that table.

I remember a tiny table from my childhood. My brother and I ate snacks at that table, had tea parties with our stuffed animals there, and sometimes even had lunch at that table. My own children also used that table when they were little. My husband also had a little table like this as a child, only his was in a playhouse at his neighbors’ across the road where he, his brother and sister would re-enact being a family. His older brother was the “hunter,” his sister appears to have liked to iron and Tom liked to be the cook (a tradition he carries on with expertise to this day).

Tables are so iconic that we sometimes find them in very unexpected but oh so lovely places. We came upon this little table when we visited the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (you should definitely go!!). We peeked in the window of a tiny cottage and discovered this scene. The children (not ours) knew exactly what to do at that table.

Our own grandchildren shared many, many tea parties and lunches at their own little table, both outside and inside. Tables bring us together.

I remember many a meal shared at various picnic tables with my own family when I was growing up. Sometimes we gathered at a table on a Sunday afternoon at nearby Umstead Park; sometimes we found a table to share as we travelled in the days before fast food restaurants dotted and dominated the landscape. My mother knew how to set a delicious table, whether it was a Thanksgiving feast or a picnic on the way to the beach.

A table can also bring us together for fun like putting together a puzzle…

or working on an art project…

or gathering around to learn and share…

to meet up with dear friends…

to share communion…

or to celebrate an event we will never forget.

The dictionary defines a table(noun) simply as this: piece of furniture with a flat top and one or more legs, providing a level surface on which objects may be placed, and that can be used for such purposes as eating, writing, working, or playing games…

Yet there is really nothing simple about a table; in some ways tables are magical. They brings us together. They help us remember. Tables offers us the opportunity for sharing and feasting and conversation and laughing and memory-keeping.

Take your own journey. Remember the tables you have sat at, the people who have shared your tables and the special tables you know you can never duplicate no matter how much you wish you could. We should never take our tables for granted because even in their everydayness they are a treasure.