Until It Was Done

One of my sons had a science fair project involving bridges made from craft sticks. I helped him build them, and somewhere along the way I discovered how much I enjoyed working with the material.

The science fair ended. I kept building.

Years later, I was going through one of the most difficult periods of my life. That same son came home with a picture of a table and asked if I could make something like it.

I said yes. And then I had something to do with my hands—a reason to get up, a problem to solve, a small forward motion when everything else had stopped.

I wanted it to be more than just a functional table. I designed the clear top to reveal the trusses inside, added a parquet pattern to the bottom, and found ways to make even the electrical outlets part of the design.

I kept working on it until it was done.