Made to Move On

The view of the table made her visualize the family members that had died. Now, this table has been in the  family for generations. Raegen was left the  table to keep it in the family. She doesn't want it. Aunt Lillie’s will and testament said for it to go to her, because she has the space in her house to fit the table. Why did Aunt Lillie  not think to have a back-up just in case Raegen did not want the table? I want the table. I want to keep this table in the family. I have a condo that is eleven hundred square feet. This table will take up all the space in my dining room of the condo. I love my family. This table would  bring us all together.  When I feel the names scratched into the table of each family member that has had this table in their home, it makes me appreciate our history. This table is over fifty years old. It doesn't look its age because of the family members who have taken care of the table so well. The redwood stain gloss makes this table look modernly new. The details of the flowers, vines and petals have a texture of the craftiness of the carpenter who made this oak wood table by hand. My grandfather made this table by hand. He was a very skilled carpenter for thirty years. He made all the furniture in the house. He enjoyed helping family and friends around the house. His name is Richard. Everyone in the neighborhood called him “Booky” or “Rick”. He did not just have skills in woodworking but also was a passionate artist. He had work shown at an art gallery. My grandfather had the opportunity to have his work in the White House. As an African American man during the 1940’s black men did not have many rights, they weren't treated equally. He did not take the opportunity because the people wanted my grandfather to allow someone else to take credit for his work. Reagen and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. They both lived to see almost a hundred years of age. My grandparents raised us after our parents were killed. My grandparents lost two children but only one child is left, which was Aunt Lillie. She is gone now. This table is the only thing that is left to hold us together.

No one calls the table by its name anymore.  My great grandmother Barbara  named the table Tany. It’s an African name from the origin of Shona. The stories about how people and family were comforted around this table will bring anyone to tears. Tany means “we are comforted”. It holds the memories of us being a family after the death of our parents. Raegen and I mourned in pain and sadness for years. When we walked down the hall we would see this table that our grandfather made. We would remember the memories that we had of him.  The tears would overwhelm us when we thought of the memories of us not being with our home. It was at that table where our lives changed forever. 

This table was where we learned the news that Barbara and Richard died, had family quarrels, were taught wisdom of life lessons, and asked for someone's hand in marriage. Watching the movers take this table from my grandparent’s home, I felt the tears fill my eyes. My eyes held on to the tears, just like I wanted to hold on to this table. I warned the movers to be careful putting the table in the truck. The movers did not listen. All the things that were put into the truck before the table made it a little extra hard to fit it in the truck. The movers put a padding over the table as well as a thin piece of foam. They continued to pile items on top of that table. They piled so much on the table. I began to worry. I went inside the house to take one final look. The tears finally began to fall down my face, I wiped away the tears and locked up the house one final time. I saw one of the movers making sure this lock was secure before we took this trip to Raegen’s house. We arrived three hours later to Raegen’s home. She was outside waving in excitement, although I knew she didn’t want this table. The movers got the truck parked. I parked my car on the side of the road. I walked up the driveway to the house. “Hello, sister!”, yells Raegen. 

I wave back, slowly taking my time up the driveway. I heard the doors of the movers truck open. The movers set up their ramp to move the items from the truck. Reagan was directing the movers where to put everything. We came outside to see how much was piled on this table. My sister and I saw one of the movers, we informed him to hurry and move these things before the table cracked from the weight. They went back in the house. Raegen and I stood outside waiting for the movers to come outside to move all those items off the table. We received several phone calls from family members excited to make sure the table had arrived in good condition. Just as we finished all the phone calls we heard a sound like a tree falling. We were frozen. We couldn’t even turn our heads to look at each other. Our eyes just shifted to look at each other while we see this table split right in the middle. We were so shocked that we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. The movers were coming out while the table was in the process of falling. They were screaming “the glass”. It was too late by the time the movers got to the truck. You could hear each box sound like a smash and ting from the glass. 

“It’s over. Time for the new”, said Raegen. In unison we said,“time to move on”.