In March the dining room table we were using broke. My dad fixed it but Roy and I decided it was time to buy a new one. We then realized that we had not purchased a new table since 1982! We purchased that table right before our 3rd child Adam was born and it lasted us many, many years until we put it out to pasture in 2004 when we moved into a much smaller place and had no room for it. We used another table my folks gave us for a short time and then when we moved to a bigger house they gave us another larger table to use with mismatched chairs, which was the table to the left that broke.
This new purchase we decided to make had me thinking a lot about that table we bought in 1982 and used for so long. As happens many times I became inspired by this situation. So I went through my old photos and gathered some pictures, then I wrote a poem. It’s framed and hanging in my dining room. ~Nancy
THE RECTOR FAMILY TABLE
By Nancy Rector
The year was 1982.
Married, in year four.
We bought a brand new table
From the R.C. Willey’s store.
A sturdy piece of furniture,
To hold our growing throng.
(Though many rears, through many years,
Did grace its benches long.)
It saw a lot of birthdays,
Puzzles, games and crafts.
Held Cub Scouts, kitty cats and friends,
And many, many laughs.
Those benches, oft recovered,
Could squeeze in four or more.
(Though sit alone upon an end,
You’d wind up on the floor.)
From our babies to our grandkids,
That table did it best.
It held us 23 odd years,
Till it was laid to rest.
So here’s to that old table.
Though inanimate its true.
You held the things we loved the most.
And we give our thanks to you.
(The first photo on the top left is our son Adam, who is now 29)
Moni says
Amazing! Your table in connection with your poem is like a ‘dangle beads’ of your life with a lot of charms.
Tienzen (Jeh-Tween) Gong says
Beautiful family.
Nancy Rector says
Thank you so much! Ü