Gift #3

December 11, 2018

Every year, Linda and I try to get one special gift for each other. It usually works out, but not always. This year, I’m stumped. Last summer, the Dunkirk church discarded a broken pew. It had sat unused in the back of the sanctuary due to a crack running the length of the seat that tended to pinch anyone who sat on it, not exactly the kind of greeting people expect or want. I had planned on burning it, but Linda thought it would make a nice bench just inside the door of our new bedroom, so I had cut it to the right length before discovering that the back had warped from being outside.

So I visited a friend who runs an antique store. “Ron, do you have any old church pews hanging around?” I asked. 

Ron peered out from beneath the rabbit fur hat he was wearing. “I think there’s one out front. We’ll have to walk through the snow to get to it.” Sure enough, he had one sitting on his front walk covered with a tarp. “I’ll take it,” I said, and handed over the money. 

Only later did I measure the depth of the space, discovering in the process that I would need another two or three inches for the door to clear the armrest and the front edge of the seat. In other words, this wasn’t going to work. I called him up. “Ron, the church pew isn’t going to work. I don’t want my money back, but how ‘bout I give you $25 for your trouble, and you hold onto the rest of it as payment against a future purchase?” He agreed, and I was back in the search for that special gift.

A couple years ago when my sister broke up housekeeping to move into an apartment, among other things that would have been left behind was a curious little cabinet. Made of oak, it had four drawers that each had about 20 2 inch holes drilled partway through the bottoms, as if they were designed to hold some sort of small bottles. I brought it home and put it at the back of my garage where it has sat ever since, not knowing quite what to do with it, but hey, it’s oak!

The other day, I measured it up and thought, “This will fit perfectly in that spot. It’s not a bench, but would make a nice flower stand as we enter the bedroom.” I brought it into the entry room, turned up the heat, retrieved my pipe clamps, mixed up the epoxy, and glued the sides back in place where they had come apart. I had just finished adjusting the drawers when Linda took notice. 

“The drawers stick,” she said.

“No problem. A little paraffin on the rails, and they’ll be fine.” Next thing I know, she’s out in the entry room rubbing paraffin on the rails before hauling the whole thing into the kitchen where she proceeded to wipe it down and wax it. Turns out, it didn’t need the refinishing job I had planned on giving it.

“This will go nicely in the girls’ room. I can put the copier paper in a drawer where I can reach it, instead of on the top shelf in the closet.” Linda was in her usual state of excitement when she sees one of her ideas coming together. 

So, special gift #2 is residing in the girls’ room instead of in the entry to our bedroom. Back to the drawing board. Tonight I am thankful that I still have a couple weeks till Christmas. Maybe gift #3 will be a charm. Or it could be “three strikes and you’re out.” Time will tell.