The Old Oak Table

The old oak kitchen table

Stood on the uneven floor.

She slid down the bench seat.

Rubbed her hands on the table top.

She smiled and remembered.

The day her 2-year-old grandson

Had danced on the tabletop.

The day her whole family had played Monopoly

How they had laughed and complained

How her youngest usually won.

The Sunday morning her future son-in-law

Asked for her beautiful daughter’s hand in marriage.

When her crazy friends had a posh tea party.

The tears, the laughs, the food

The joy and the pain.

But most of all She remembered

When her son said, “Must have been a good card Dad, Mum is crying.”

Then they all laughed.

The years of cooking, loving, crying

Laughing, counselling, eating, mending homework.

But it still stood there

Not speaking

Yet it’s full of stories.

Next time you see an old table

Don’t dismiss it.

It carries so much life.