Chad has been wanting to get new dining room furniture for a while now, and since we took the house off the market and decided to stay for a bit longer, I gave in. One of the reasons why I didn't want to get new stuff was because the dining room set was my grandparents. When my grandfather decided to sell the house, after my grandmother had passed away, my brother, cousins and I went in and got to have what we wanted. My cousins got to pick first, so some items that remained where a round table that was in their foyer and their dining room set. I was thrilled to take those items. The round drum table was what I remember seeing as soon as you walked into their house. It had pictures of all of us grandchildren, my parents, Aunt and some other relatives. I think of my grandmother when I look at
that table, which now holds my family photos too. I plan on holding onto that table...so back off Chad! The dining room table was very hard to part with. You see, my grandparents lived about 3 hours from us so when we went for visits, most of our time was spent at
that table. My grandparents were Italian and food was a big part of their lives. We ate, drank, laughed, talked, cried, argued...you name it...it happened at
that table. When it came time to decide what to do with the old furniture, I thought long and hard. Do I sell it? That just felt weird and not right. Do I see if anyone I know needs it? How does
that look? I finally decided to donate it to a local organization called MAP (Material Assistance Providers). What a fantastic non for profit company. They are a
furniture bank where people who are in need can come and pick out furniture for FREE. I received a phone call from a
volunteer at MAP yesterday. She wanted to call and tell me that the furniture had already been
chosen and was in a house that so
desperately needed it. I hope it makes my grandparents happy to know that hopefully the family who now sits around the table can make great memories too.
