Do you ever stop to reflect about how you have gotten to the point in your life where you are? We spend so many hours each day completing tasks and planning for our future that it is easy to forget the past events or decisions that have brought us to the present state of our lives. I love to live for today and have great plans for my future, but I think it is important to stop and contemplate the past now and then.

I was thinking of this recently because my daughter just got married. She and her husband are trying to furnish their apartment on a shoestring budget. They are very independent and do not want handouts or loans from the parents. My daughter did ask if they could borrow our truck to pick up some second hand furniture they had bought. I drove the truck over to her house and the plan was for me to drive her car back home. Her husband was called into work so she asked if I would help her pick up the furniture. They had found a used couch and chair, but they still needed a table and chairs. When we arrived at the used furniture store I noticed a wicker table. It reminded me of the table that we had when we were first married. The wicker table had a pedestal base and a round top. I told my daughter that we had one like it. She thought that it looked too small and also not very sturdy. I explained that the wicker table is designed to have a glass top placed on it. The table top can be round, square or oval, depending on what type of glass you find. The wicker table was very reasonably priced. The owner of the store said that there was a glass place next door that may have a piece of glass that could be used to top the table.

My daughter and I went to the glass shop. The owner had a smoked round piece of glass with a beveled edge. The piece had been custom made, but the buyer did not like the color. He also pointed out a small scratch at the middle of the glass. He offered the glass to my daughter for a very reasonable price. The glass was large enough to have six chairs fit around it. She decided to take it. As we were driving home with her cheap wicker table she mentioned that they only have folding chairs to set by it. I changed directions and drove to a fabric store and showed her a pattern to make folding chair covers. We found fabric on sale and went home to make them. When I saw the finished wicker table and chairs I had to reflect back to the early years of our marriage and how we were so happy to make due with what we could find at second hand stores.