Stories: Homeword

It's A Table - No, It's Friendship

My friend’s workshop is nothing to look at from the street. It is located in the older section of town. Empty furniture plants and old homes that appear weathered and tired line the nearby streets. Part of the shop looks like it would collapse if the wind blew hard enough. I peer in the door’s window to see if he is there. Stacks of furniture that he will refinish or restore are piled as high as the ceiling on both sides of the long building. I give a hardy knock on the door and Galen appears. He makes his way up the narrow path that leads from his spray booth located in back.

Galen has lived many lives. One day when we were visiting, he began to tell me about his previous life as a competitive bodybuilder. (I was not really surprised.) His vegetarian lifestyle today is a carry over from those days. I also learned that he was once a long-distance runner and ran most of the major marathons. He is an interesting guy.

We talk about politics, religion, and the weakened state of the furniture industry in North Carolina. We also talk about family. Often our discussion is centered on our wives. Both of them are named Kathy. Both seem to love their husbands – perhaps more than the husbands deserve – and both are their husbands’ best friends.

I never call at noon or go by during the lunch hour for he is not there. Galen has lunch with his elderly mother every weekday. His father passed away many years ago and he has always stayed close so he could be near if she needed anything.

“Hey,” Galen smiles as he opens the locked door. I smile and ask him how he is doing.

I stop by regularly lately. Galen is creating a table for the kitchen dining area in our new home. The project morphed from a basic refinish job to an art piece that has a table top with a faux mosaic finish. He has taken three Christian symbols and made them the central images in his design. His involvement has gone from a job for a friend to something that he has personally invested himself. He is passionate about his craft and has an artist’s spirit.

“So, when do you think you will finish the table?” I ask again like I have many times before. “I’m working on it,” he replies earnestly.

I never doubt that he is. He hand selected the pedestal. He had the table top specially built just for this project. One day while he was out running errands in town, he noticed the large Methodist church off Main Street was having the sanctuary remodeled. He stopped just to go inside to see the enormous stained glass windows and to make notes on the Christian symbolism.

I’m learning that you do not rush genius.

But I can’t complain. I have been friends with Galen for a number of years. He has refinished most of the furniture in my home – the bedroom suite that once belonged to my grandfather, an antique vanity and chest of drawers, the hutch in our foyer, and the vintage sofa in the master bedroom. We have both enjoyed the experiences. However, we have spent more time on this project than we have during all the other projects combined.

So I have decided, instead of focusing on the time that it is taking to get this table into my kitchen, I am valuing the time Galen and I are spending together.

Our friendship is growing.

I have found that sometimes the obvious is the most elusive. It’s very simple: relationships fade, stagnate or grow all depending on the time and effort invested. The premise even extends to our relationship with God.

Prayer means many things to people, but to God it means the time we spend with him. If we feel it is important to spend hours with family and friends, wouldn’t it be as important to spend time talking with God each day?

Now if only Galen’s inspiration will flow out onto my table soon – using TV trays every night is growing old.

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