My Kitchen Table

I was just thinking that out of all the things in my house, our dining room table is what I like best. If you look close enough, you can pick out all kinds of problems. The tablecloth is wrinkled (but clean); the chairs are a little scratched up (kids, you know); and the cushions are definitely stained (a whole lot of eating). But when I was sitting there tonight looking around at my family (parents included!)... well, I just realized how much I love that table. Not so much the table, I know, but what it represents.

Conversations about life.
Enough food to eat.
Somebody else to clean up.

I know I can sometimes get pretty self-absorbed pretty darn quick. I know I can sometimes find things to complain about when there is no reason to complain. I know at most times I can be my own worst enemy. For some reason, that table above puts everything in perspective for me. Whether it's family or friends sharing a meal, it's a good reminder of everything I have.

Oh, I know next week I might be singing a different song. My mom won't be standing at my sink washing dishes. My dad won't be sitting on my front porch in a rocking chair. We'll be back to cell phone calls and internet chat and the occasional webcam conversation; but with Day Three of their visit coming up tomorrow, I can tell you that we are enjoying every minute of it.

Boy, oh boy. I could question a thousand times of why we are where we are.
That is one question, though, I no longer expect an answer to.
Even I get tired of asking. I'm finally okay with that.

But sitting around the table tonight? Well, that's one memory I will go back to time and time again. I'll just file it away with the others. If I close my eyes tight, I can still see my grandma sitting at that same table. Lots of good memories there. My daughter said to me the other day that she would like to have our front porch swing some day. I can understand that. Her daddy made that swing just for me. In fact, if you lift it up and peer underneath, you'll find our names carved there with a heart. That swing is made of special stuff, let me tell you.

I hope she finds the beauty of the dining room table, too. She might snarl her nose at the scratches and stains now, but I believe one day she'll look back on these days with a smile in her heart and a tear in her eye. She might even have to fight her brothers for it. I'm doing everything I can to drill into those kids the importance of the whole gathering together thing. Sometimes it's all you've got.

Even with the wrinkles and scratches and stains.
Kinda like life, isn't it?