The Kitchen Table

The kitchen table is where people come together to share what? Do they really want to relive the days events that went wrong? Do they simply end up there to unwind and forget the day? Do they want to sit and hear about how great someone else's day went? Or, do they simply want to sit across from someone else and lose themselves in that person and forget their own existence? For Henry and Samantha, who have been married for almost 50 years, the kitchen table is full of memories of children, grand-children, great-grandchildren complaining about the food, wanting to go watch t.v., wanting to kick each other under the table...maybe it's their time to make new memories at the kitchen table.

Henry, now 73, fixes his plate at the stove. There is no reason to take all that food to the table since there is just the two of them now. His wife Samantha, is six years his junior. He shuffles when he walks but he makes sure to stay active as he doesn't want to decline such that he needs to rely on a walker. His cane aides him when he leaves the house. Sitting down, he can see Samantha as she fixes her plate. Henry does much of the cooking now as Samantha hates to cook. He looks at his wife and remembers how thin she was when they first married and now she is much plumper. He doesn't mind that as he, himself, is much plumper now too. He's thinking if he ever really loved her or if she was just what he needed at the time.

She's not a beautiful woman but was attractive enough to catch his eye at the time. Lone gone is her long brown hair. Her hair now has got a silver shine to it. She turns to face him and she smiles, he smiles back wondering if she is thinking the same thing.

Samantha, with her plate in her hands, heads towards the table. She returns Henry's smile and wonders what he's thinking. Married people of 50 years should know what the other is thinking, shouldn't they, she asked herself. What makes him smile this morning? He got up and cooked breakfast as usual. He's an early riser and he likes to eat early so, he cooks. He is lucky to be alive. He suffered threw cancer and shortly after had a heart attack. The heart attack aged him 10 years. He still hides his pain from her. She has watched his decline and her heart aches for him.

As she sits, she sees that Henry has almost finished his meal. Why didn't he wait so they could enjoy the breakfast time together? It's always been that way. Hit and miss at the table.

Everyone always in a hurry no time to sit and actually enjoy the meal. He always does things in his own timeline never taking any one else's thoughts on the matter. However, she doesn't like to cook so she doesn't complain. She looks at the food and inwardly laughs, he still doesn't know how I like my eggs, still she thanks him for cooking.

Henry watches Samantha sit and wonders why she can't get up when he gets up. She knows he always cooks first thing of a morning and, if she wanted to spend time with him, she should have gotten up when he did. She could have helped him cook and they could have talked during the meal preparation. Not her, she is not an early riser and he refuses to wait on her. He realizes that she needs sleep more than most people, but, really, what does she do that makes her so tired all of the time, he wonders. He doesn't mind cooking as he knows how she hates to cook. He waits for the complaints but instead she thanks him for cooking.

Samantha was raised to wait till the whole family was seated and a prayer said before a meal could be started. They all knew they had their own place at the table. When they had fried chicken everyone had their own piece.... no deviations permitted. She wanted her own family raised like that; however, she was a working mother and the world was in such a hurry these days. Her mother was a homemaker. Henry was raised in the same manner; however, they lost that with their own family. She looked at Henry and realized how much her life changed when she married him.

Henry didn't care for how he was raised, he wanted something his own. He didn't want to wait on things. He didn't want to say a prayer to a Being he never sees. Samantha was a church goer when he met her but stopped going to church shortly after they were married. He was so glad of that as he was not going to become a hypocrite and go to church with her. He glanced at her and wondered if he had gone to church would that have made her happier? Should he have caved in and became a better person? He did please her by having their wedding in the church.

Samantha looks at Henry and realizes that after all these years they are truly alone now. No loud, mouthy, kids around. So, it's just them. Nobody there to intervene and give them something to talk about. Still she looks up and smiles at Henry.

Henry senses Samantha's mood is light this morning. He's glad, he hasn't seen her smile much lately. Maybe it's because

the room is silent and that's how she likes it. She never liked a noisy meal. However, her smile has warmth to it today.

Samantha, looks up and looks at Henry, she stares into his eyes and her mind goes back to when they were first married.

Should she shock Henry? she asks herself. Why not, she answers. She reaches out her hand and touches Henry's face. She gets up and Henry takes her hand and wonders why she is leaving the table? Caught off guard, he watches Samantha clear the table. He's too taken aback to say anything. He looks at her and, with her smile, she takes him back 30 years to a time when the kitchen table was used for more things than sharing a meal.