The True Meaning of a Kitchen Table

 

I'm having a moment.

We're in the process of giving our kitchen a facelift, and our dining room table, which has sometimes doubled as our kitchen table for thirty-six years, may need to be sold.

What's the Big Deal About Selling a Table Anyway?

Thirty years ago or so, I read an eloquently and emotionally written article in Reader's Digest about a family's kitchen table; thinking about it today brings tears to my eyes. I tried to find it for you so I could link to it here, but I have yet to find it.

The author talked about her family's life around her table: gatherings, birthdays, celebrations, games, and tears. I've always remembered that article. Having such a big family, I  easily relate to the memories created around the family table.

She said she didn't want to sell her memory-filled table to anyone. She wanted it to go to a family growing with it and filling it with their memories.

Why Thinking About Selling this Table Has Me in Tears

I'm a wuss. It's official.

My husband and I purchased this table in 1986. We needed a large table for our large family. I have three step-kids (all grown up now) and, at that time, one son of our own. Today, we have four sons, and we've since added six grandchildren. 

We have had almost every birthday for all the kids around this table. We've celebrated baptisms, Christmas, Thanksgiving, weddings, and every other major event families celebrate.

A memory from 1987 at this very table
with my Dad, our oldest boy as a baby, making us laugh,
and my youngest brother

Our kids have gone from little to big; we've added spouses, girlfriends, and boyfriends to the family mix. In-depth conversations, teasing, and great food have been shared for decades.

I recently sat with my oldest boy, sharing tears at this table about mom's (his grandmother's) passing. Mom and Dad shared many dinners with all of us at this table. Dad passed away in 2013; missing him is now a part of my soul.

This Table Has Lived

It's not just a table; it represents our life.

I'm still determining if I'll sell it.

In fact, after typing this, I think if we can't incorporate it into the new design, I'll keep it in case there's a move to a new home in the future. 

It's solid oak. In my book, it's priceless. 

It's not priceless because it's solid oak but rather because the characteristics of an oak tree represent our family traits: longevity, strength, stability, and endurance. 

Hey, our family isn't perfect; we've had our share of struggles, but as the mom, I see many faces passing through time whenever I glance at the empty seats gathered around.

Here's our table, our life:

A Kitchen Table Filled with Memories

Do you have a table where your family has gathered for generations? 

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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Photographing Special Family Events

Have you been to a family reunion or other special family event where you want to get some great photos to document the event.  Yes, everyone takes photos, but to really get some good ones you need to do a bit of pre planning.  Last weekend we had a family reunion at Table Rock Lake.  On this page I will share with you some of the photos and the tips I used in capturing them.

The Group  Photo

It is great to get a photo of the entire group.  We had 29 people in our group and I wanted to get them in to a group photo.  Here are some of the tips that I used.

• Use a tripod and set your timer on your camera..that way you  can be in the photo too.
• Before you gather everyone together first try out a few shots with a smaller group to make sure where you want to place your camera.
• Take the time to arrange everyone in an eye pleasing arrangement.  I first had everyone standing with the tallest in the back.  But as you can see here that was not as appealing as when I had some sitting and some kneeling.
  

Take some Smaller Group Shots

I took photos of several groups: the siblings, the cousins, the grandchildren and individual family groups. Be sure to include both serious and fun shots.  The cousins had a fun pose they had done 10 years ago at a wedding so I had them do that again.  

Candid Shots

You will want to include photos of people participating in activities and also of people just sitting around and visiting.  Some tips to remember.

• Watch your lighting....you want to be able to see the faces
• Be careful not to snap shots of the backs of people
• Try to make sure everyone is included in a couple of shots
• Capture the activities that everyone is enjoying
• Have someone snap a photo of you...after all you were there too

Be sure to Include Photos of Your Location

You will want to include some photos of the location where you held the event.  I walked around the property and took photos of the cabins we stayed at, the boat docks, the swimming area, the meeting area, and the playground.  I also went down to the lake at sunset to capture some images of the sun setting and the beautiful clouds over the lake.

Consider Making an Online Photo Book

When you get home from your outing consider making an online photo book.  You can share the book with all of the people from your event and they can choose whether or not to order it in paper form.  I like to use the service of Shutterfly .  They have an easy to follow program to help you put all of your memories into a book.  They also have various sizes that you can order.  Here are some tips to use in getting ready to make your photo book.

• First you will want to download all of your photos into your computer
• Next you will want to determine which ones would work best for your book and do whatever editing is needed for those photos.  I started out with 287 photos and narrowed that down to about 80 that I used in the book.
• The next step I do is to  make a folder on my desktop of the photos I want to use in the book
• I then download these photos into the Shutterfly program and follow their instructions to make my photo book.

Here is a copy of the book that I made.

Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

I hope these tips have helped you and that you will capture some wonderful  memories from your next reunion or event.

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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