Our Old Thrift Store Table Poem by Jim Yerman

Deborah found it in a thrift store…in the back, next to the wall.
When she happened upon it that day…she was immediately enthralled.

A wooden dining room table…solid oak…round with four claw feet…
and a red tab taped across its top showing a price that couldn't be beat.

When I finally made it back to her…I joined with her in making a fuss…
"It's a little old and beat up." Deborah said,
And I smiled…"In a way…it's just like us."

It had some nicks and bruises and its base was cracked in at least two places…
but we brought it home, we cleaned it up and added a few braces.

The thrift store gave us 4 chairs…free! …completing our new old dining room set
and for years around that table is where our friends and family met….

for birthdays, parties, dinners, oftentimes just Deborah and me…
It's hard to put into words how important that old table came to be.

Yesterday our old thrift store table was feeling the effects of age…when…
try as we might, after our family left, we couldn't push its two sides together again.

In an attempt to fix it…we tipped it over…but halfway through the flip
we heard a crack…then another crack…as its braces lost their grip.

Suddenly after supporting us for so long…it could take the weight no more
and that table, with it's years of conversations, tumbled to the floor.

We have a friend, a carpenter…at least a carpenter every now and then…
who we're hoping can work some magic and put our table together again.

Why you might ask?
Why not get a new table now that the old one can no longer stand…
Perhaps you have to reach a certain age before you understand…

how even old and a little beat up…over that table we can still make a fuss…
and we'd like her to be around for a little while longer…
as I said before…just like us.