Some of my fondest family memories involve my grandparents’ dining table. It was the place of family communion….a place of breaking bread, quiet contemplation, and raucous good times.

It is somewhat ironic that such a symbol started with my grandmother, Eva, being angry after receiving the gift of that table from my grandfather’s sister, Lona. Lona was not much liked by my grandmother because Lona always had a way of showing off her perceived success and sort of lording it over her. Even though I was young and only saw her occasionally, I recall Lona was always boastful, loud, well-dressed, and an irritant to Eva.

As I understand it, Lona had been married 4 or 5 times, and all of her husbands but the last met an early demise. Was this simply rumor or actual fact? I don’t know and have not done research to authenticate that. Anyway, there seemed to be little love lost between the two, and the gift of the table and chairs always stuck in Eva’s craw. It was like, “You should have better so here you go.”

The table and chairs themselves were, and still are, very nice examples of early 1950s factory-made walnut, somewhat-traditional furniture. Without the leaves it seats four comfortably, and with the leaves, 8 for dinner or card games.

But this is not what made this table special for me. Every time I and my parents, my family, and my siblings visited Yakima, my grandparents’ house became the center of extended family gatherings. We had fabulous holiday meals prepared by three marvelous cooks—my grandmother, my Aunt Rosemary, and my mom.

On non-holiday visits, the meals were the same and became holiday occasions. And after these dinners the table would be cleared and then used for putting puzzles together or playing card games accompanied by friendly banter and a lot of laughter. These times were as special as any event could be.

Unfortunately my grandmother passed away in the early 1970s, leaving my grandfather living alone in the house he had lived in since before World War 2.

When it was no longer possible for my grandfather to continue living alone, he moved to a nursing home, which was to me an awful place. At that time all family members were asked what, if anything, we would like of his meager positions. No one else seemed interested in the table and chairs so I took them. After using them for a few years in the Painted hills house and living on Cooper Road, I had my painter refinish them and continued to use them at the Liberty Lake houses and the rental I lived in after Mary passed away.

When I moved into my shop space, I no longer had a place to use them so I stored them away. I asked my siblings, cousins, and my kids if they would like to have them but no one was interested.

So there the table and chairs sat until a month ago. My longtime friend Glenna Lenz moved back to Spokane and purchased a trailer in a great park, but she had a very tight budget. I thought about her situation for a few days and decided she would be a good steward, so I offered to let her use them on the condition I can get them back if sometime in the future I might want them again.

I doubt, however, I will ever need them again, and I know they have a good home. Besides, she and I are developing a very fun relationship and I know I will continue to cook food and sit at that table into the future.

Ken Kaiyala
10-18-2016

Addendum:
The first of July, 2019, Glenna moved to Oregon to live with her cousin so I retrieved the table I had loaned to her. So now I have it back and hope to find another home for it, the china hutch, and the buffet—hopefully be appreciated and enjoyed by a family for years to come.

Addendum #2:
One and one half or two years ago, I had a project that needed to be lacquered so I asked the owner of the paint shop next door if they would do it for me. Of course, he said yes and did.

Sometime before that, while I was showing the paint shop owner some things I had made, he spotted the table in my storage room and liked it. When it came time to settle up for the finishing work his shop had done, I asked if he had any interest in trading for the table, chairs, buffet, and china cabinet. He said he was, and we had a deal.

Before he took it all, I slipped a copy of the table’s history into one of the buffet drawers. Now everything is in his home surrounded by a family, and I dearly hope they are creating their own great memories around that table.