Grandmother's Farm Table

I recently inherited the farm table that my grandmother Alma had in her kitchen in Ballard for many years. Before I got the table, my aunt inherited it from her mother, and had it completely refinished years ago. It's a beautiful table, with bins for flour and other staples such as sugar. The aluminum top was removed, and the wood refinished and polished to a beautiful sheen. It now resides in my family room, where it provides a spot for my 1898 Seth Thomas kitchen clock.

It means a lot to me to have the table that my grandmother used to prepare meals for her family. My father and his sister used to eat their Sunday lunch on the two serving boards that pull out from the front of the table. I often use these extensions of the table when I am serving a buffet meals to friends and family.

Perhaps my grandmother got this table from her mother-in-law in Oregon. I am at least the third generation to use this table, and it gives me a sense of my place in my family whenever I walk by and let my hand trail over the beautiful, smooth dark wood.