Thursday, August 11, 2011

Kitchen Table Memories

It's amazing the memories that can come from seeing an old kitchen table!
Several years ago I was called to be a visiting teacher/home teacher with Robert. This is when I met a very dear lady named Lila "Jo" Wade and her family. Robert had been visiting her for probably about 15 years before that and had become very good friends with her. When I first walked into her living room I saw a table set up with a puzzle-in-progress on it. I kept looking at that table and realized it was the exact style of table that I had grown up with most of my childhood. What a lot of memories came pouring back! I remembered my family all sitting around it every night for dinner, eating my after-school snack of graham crackers and milk while doing my homework, seeing Dad sitting there paying bills every month, seeing mom working on her Relief Society lessons, etc. My sisters and I always hoped to be able to sit in the middle of the table on either of the sides so that we could put our feet on the bar underneath!
Last year I had the idea of asking if I could borrow the table for a night so that my mom, sisters, daughters, and I could have our Book Club sitting around it. Lila Wade said yes and it was very fun to have that night of memories with my family.
Well, dear Lila passed away last month after having been in poor health for many years. Robert and I will really miss seeing her every month. It is very sad to lose her, but we know that she is now able to walk around and do so many things that she couldn't do here anymore. We know that she is back with her husband who she lost many years ago, and with other family members. And that sweet family of hers said that they wanted me to have that kitchen table, which is so very generous of them. I keep worrying that other family members will want it, but they said no one did. What a kind gift for me to treasure!