Collectors of Nostalgia

I get attached to things very easily. I wouldn't classify myself as a pack rat. No, I'm more of a collector of nostalgia... :-) This cookbook is a prime example of what I'm talking about.
Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen. Molly got hold of it when she was a puppy (hence the chewed corner). I've only cooked 2 recipes from this cookbook in the 11 years or so that I've had it. I liked both of them, but the cookbook itself isn't all that great. So, why do I hang on to this mangled cookbook? Partly because it reminds me of a time when I could afford to spend lots of money on useless cookbooks. But also partly because it reminds me of that same time in my life, before we had children, when I was willing to put up with a crazy puppy chewing the corner off of my really expensive, totally useless cookbook. And I never want to forget that time in my life!

For the past 14 years, Hector and I have dined on the same dining room table. At the time we bought it, we paid $250. Not bad... We've replaced all of the chairs that went with the table, numerous times. The table had been colored on, spilled on, cut on, and spilled on some more. It sustained the move from our duplex on Goliad to our house on Concho, and then another move to our house on Dorchester. Many of you have sat at this table, and a few of you have even had one of the chairs break on you while you were sitting in it! And some of you have even had the pleasure of poking fun of our "well-loved" table. I took no offense. The table had character. Or at least, that's what I told myself.

Well a few weeks ago, Hector and I were sitting at our dining room table, eating breakfast with the kids. And in the middle of our conversation (that we really didn't think any of the kids were listening to) Avery burst in with, "But I don't want a new table! I LOVE this table! I don't want you to get rid of it." She has such a flair for the dramatic. Wonder where she gets it from... I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised, given the fact that Avery is a "collector" herself. She has just as much of a hard time letting go of things as I do. So, I tried to explain to her that we were simply throwing out some ideas, and we weren't actually planning on getting rid of the table. Still, there we were in Ikea 2 weekends ago, looking at the dining room tables, drool dripping from the sides of our mouths, visions of a new dining room table dancing around in our heads (maybe this was just me and not Hector too). But we left Ikea that day without a new dining room table.

Perhaps I struggle to get rid of things like our old dining room table, because it holds so many memories for me. Like the time I made pork chops for dinner, and I sat my plate down on the table and walked back into the kitchen to grab my drink. When I got back to the table my pork chop was gone, and Molly was underneath the table licking her lips. Or the time my brother John and his wife Jacqueline, my Grandmother, my cousin Ashley, and my sister Becky all came to Dallas to visit us for Thanksgiving, and we were playing Trivial Pursuit at the table. The game was getting quite intense, and a fight was on the verge of breaking out, when all of a sudden the chair that John was sitting in broke! We all got a big kick out of it (okay maybe not John, but everyone else got a big kick out of it!). Then there's also the time that we brought Samuel home from the hospital, and his Grandma Consuelo was making curtains at the table to go into his nursery. Or the time when Samuel was learning how to walk, and he kept trying to pull himself up on the chairs underneath the table, and every time he did that he would hit his head and fall down. Or the time when Avery was spinning in the dining room and fell backwards and busted her head open (literally). I picked her up off the floor and laid her tiny body on the table, too afraid to move her, too afraid to leave her alone to go grab the phone. So I stood there at that table with Avery, applying pressure to the wound, waiting for Hector to get home from work. When Hector walked in the door a few minutes later, he could see the panic in my eyes as Avery lay there motionless, with blood all over the table. And then there's all of the many times we've sang Happy Birthday, all of the Easter eggs that have been dyed, all of the gingerbread houses that have been built, all of the Halloween candy that's been dumped out and counted, all of the homemade playdough that's been squished between fingers, all of the tea parties, all of the cards that have been written, all of the art projects that have been completed, all of the holiday meals that have been served, all of the family time we've spent together, and all of the countless times we've been able to have our friends and family over to eat with us... all the laughs, all the tears, all the arguments, all the really good conversations, all around that old table.

But finally, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't the table itself that was so special to me. It was the memories that were created by the people themselves, all while sitting around that table, that I hold so dear to my heart. And so I put that old table and chairs up for sale on Craigslist, and within a day I had a taker! The lady called me and asked if she and her husband could come and get it. I was on my way home from Wednesday night activities at our church, and I told her to come and get it, my husband was at home and I was on my way there! I figured that I would get home right about the time that she and her husband would get to the house. But by the time I got home and opened up the back door, the table was gone! Hector had let the people in, and they had already packed it up and taken it away. Somehow I felt like I had missed out on something important. I wanted to get one final picture of all 5 of us sitting around the table. I missed out on getting to say goodbye to the table. And then I realized how silly I was being. I didn't need one final picture, because I already have so many others that mean so much to me. And so it was that this past Saturday, Avery and I made the trip back to Ikea. I wanted her to feel as if she had a say in the new dining room set that we picked out. Mistake! Avery wanted the 50s style white, shiny table, with the zebra print chairs. It was a fun set, but it just wasn't my style... We talked about it, and then we talked about it some more. And through our tears we managed to call Hector and bug him for a few minutes. And finally, we decided on this:
You all will be very happy to know that after having it in our home for only 2 days now, we're already feeling quite attached to it! :-) And we're looking forward to the many new memories that will be created and collected in our hearts and minds, all around the table.