TABLES & A CLOCK

There are two items I have in my apartment that I particularly treasure: a wooden clock and a set of side tables.

The clock is at the same time simple and ornate, with roman numerals one through twelve and that wonderful "ding dong ding dong" that you expect from a clock that chimes the hour. The tables are as functional (they fit quite nicely under one another) as they are beautiful - a warm, medium brown wood.

Both of these things lived for years at my grandparents' house. I remember playing Dominos and Tiddly Winks with my grandpa - he in His Chair and I comfortably on the floor, with the tables in between supporting our afternoon game. I remember hearing the clock chime at quarter after, a longer chime at half past, longer yet at quarter til, and finally coming full circle on the hour - every hour - and then the trusty individual "bong" that would gently remind you of the time of day, (even though at grandma & grandpa's house it never mattered what time it was, until that sad 8th hour of bedtime). But even then, as my little brother and I would somehow both fit on that small living room couch - snuggling up to sleep and begging grandma to read just one more story - the security of the ticking clock, hanging on the wall above our heads, was a lullaby in itself.

Having them stand up to those many years in Akron, through my father's childhood and my own, it is not only a testament to their craftsmanship that they have traveled all the way to New York with me, but also a symbol of great, great love.