In December of 2022, a young lady contacted me about a special project for her. She had a small piece of wood from a valance in her daddy’s house. The house had been sold and was being remodeled but, she was able to obtain this small piece of wood. Her dad had built the valances years before he passed away. Her memories of her dad and the house she grew up in included those very same balances.
She wanted me to build her something out of this small piece of wood. The wood was probably less than 4 feet in length and maybe 6 to 7 inches in width. The piece of cherry wood was scratched from being torn from the walls. All she desired was a small shelf that she could hang on her wall to remember her dad. She came by the house and dropped the wood off. After she left, I took the wood out to the shop and started working.
I carefully measured and cut that small piece of wood. There was really no room for a mistake. I cut enough small pieces to create a back for the shelf.
I then glued them up using TiteBond III Ultimate. Clamps were applied to the boards and left overnight for the glue to cure. I removed the clamps the next morning and took some time to determine the perfect place to attach the shelf to the backer boards.
The piece of wood at the top of the picture is the shelf and the very small piece at the bottom was the leftover. After the glue had set, I attached the shelf to the back with glue and 1 1/4-inch wood screws. She did not want the wood sanded or altered in any way. The boards were left just as her dad had finished it so many years ago. I guess she felt that refinishing the boards would be scraping away his work and some precious memories.
The ends were not to be stained, just the bare wood showing. The entire project took two days due to the glue drying time. I sent her a text message that the shelf was ready, and she could come by and pick it up.
The look and tears on her face when she held that tiny shelf was all the payment I needed. I remembered my dad and he love for woodworking and creating things with his hands. Brenda and I had already decided that we would not accept payment for this. All it took was an hour or so of my time, a few drops of glue and three screws to hold the shelf on. The Good Lord gave me the ability to work with my hands and my dad trained me. This was my repayment to both of them.
A week or so after the shelf was picked up, I received an envelope that contained payment for the shelves. She didn’t owe me anything but, I guess that was for the memories of her dad.
“My Father didn’t tell me how to live;
he lived,
and let me watch him do it.”
-Clarence Budington Kelland
