The Green Table

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu



In my family, we had a table in the kitchen. Most everyone had a kitchen table, however, not like our one of a kind, kitchen table. It was unique because it was crafted by my father, crafted in triangularish form out of oak and green Formica. Most everything my father designed and built for our home was some combination of oak and/or Formica for they were his favorite medium to express his artistic talents. To seat the six kids around the table, he made two benches out of oak, the seating area covered in padded pleather, each the length of one side of the table. Backrests were mounted to the wall. Dad made a lazy susan, again Formica covered, which sat in the middle of the table to help us pass food during our family dinners. Family dinners were an important part of growing up in my family and we had them most days of the week. This is a tradition that that doesn't seem to occur as much in our crazy busy society these days. I am heartened to see that my daughter is doing her best to bring this important time back to her family.

The green table was much more than a table. It was the hub of our lives. We were a family of 6 kids, 3 boys and 3 girls. We spent many hours in the kitchen for it was the centerpiece of our small home where everyone gathered multiple times during the day. For dinner, mom would ring the bell bolted to the soffit of our house. We knew, the entire neighborhood knew, the ringing of the bell meant it was time for us to go home for dinner.

We ate around the table, we talked around the table, we laughed uproariously around the table, we fought around the table, we cried around the table. Our home was the neighborhood grand central station where kids seemed to be ever present much to my mom's joy for she loved having kids around. When our friends came over, they frequently sat with us and my parents around the table talking about everything under the sun. The table was the center piece for most activities in my home. Get up in the morning and sit at the table. Come home from school and sit at the table. Return from playing a game and sit at the table. Before retiring to bed sit at the table.

There was a small TV mounted in the corner of the kitchen where we would sometimes watch Wild Kingdom just before mom served us our dinner. The TV was always turned off before we ate. I remember eating many delicious meals around that table with the family drinking, at least, one gallon of milk with every dinner. I remember dinners there that were more than dinners, they were times when we paused our busy schedules and connected with each other in meaningful ways. I fondly remember sitting at the table after dinner just chatting the hours away.

The table was where the foundation of our family was laid and grew strong. The foundation we built was so strong that to this day my siblings and I are closely knit, closely knit by a common thread that weaves our lives and our hearts together.  I remember many events that occurred in my kitchen. Mostly, I remember feeling loved while sitting at that green table.