This was usually the most-cluttered surface in our house.
Every other Thursday (today, as a matter of fact), our cleaning crew comes to spiff and polish our house. As I move through the rooms picking things up off surfaces, filing papers, and shredding documents, I can’t help but marvel at how easy it is to get prepared for them now that both boys are away at college.
You might think that I would give pause at their respective bedrooms and the lifeless game room, missing the lively banter and laughter once contained within.
But it’s actually the dining room that brings tears to my eyes.
These school supplies have returned to their storage bin in the kitchen.
I don’t know about anyone else’s house, but that room always has been the hub of activity in ours. Not for eating, but for everything else involving our sons. That’s where the various iMacs and MacBooks that they’ve used have sat (they weren’t allowed to have computers or TVs in their bedrooms). It’s also where school books, crayons, markers, glue sticks, and papers resided. It was a great place to do homework and projects.
Chase at our iMac
The dining room table also was a gathering place for the boys and their friends. At first, they’d share our computers and watch videos together.
Josh and Chase joined my older son in playing Runescape.
After a few years, the table would be filled with laptops and shouting, laughing young adults playing videogames. I so enjoyed watching them having so much fun.
Chase helped his “little brother” with his homework.
Although often messy and in a disarray, the dining room seemed to have a life of its own. It was welcoming and comforting and a favorite room.
Still life
But now it’s emptied of all that marvelous vitality. To me, it’s the saddest room in the house. I guess it needs to find a new purpose.
Maybe the Mister and I will actually eat in there one of these days!
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