Mother's Prize

“Mother’s Prize”

Chuck Martin

Last week I was cleaning up, getting rid of “stuff”. You know the things we collect and want to hang on to because we thought it might have a use later. Magazines with stories of world events, trinkets a friend gave you, awards, those type things you put away and forget.

Pulling items out, I inspected them. I had two piles, to keep; to get rid of. In a box on the highest shelf I discovered a piece of wood about six inches by five inches. It was pine and had been stained a light brown. The top was clumsily cut in the shape of roof tops. On one side the word “MOTHER” was scrolled. The letters haphazardly drawn with a wood burning tool. On the other side “MOTHER” was spelled out and this time in a straight line. In the left hand corner a heart was etched. A chip had been filled with wood putty that was to light for the wood. A hole had been drilled in the top center for hanging purposes.

I remember making this board in 7th grade woodworking class. We had a choice for our first projects. A cutting board; food tray, or a picture frame. I chose cutting board because it looked like the easiest to do. Originally it was to be 12X 6 inches, but I cut it off square. I had to do it over and this time I clipped off one end at an angle. I cut it over.
It now had an angle of different size on both ends. What to do? I decided to cut it at the top and make it look like part of the design. I cut here and there. It looked like the eves of roofs, so I left it that way.

I decided to give it to my mother as a prize. I used a wood burning set and burned “MOTHER” into the wood. It was terribly written, so I turned the board over. This time I used a ruler and took more time. Then I etched the heart. I discovered I had made a gouge in the wood with the tool. I filled it with wood putty, let it dry and put a finish on my project. I remember getting a “C” minus from the teacher, which I thought was unfair as the design was pretty original. It was too small for a loaf of bread, but you could cut up a sandwich. I gave it to my mother and it hung in the kitchen for awhile.

My mother passed away in 1988 and my two sisters and I went through my mothers things to decide what each would like to keep. We took our pick of letters and pictures. We came upon the cutting board and I said I’d like to have it and put it into a box with other collected bits and pieces. I didn’t think too much about it as it was a stressful time. At home I put away the things I had gathered from my mothers earthly possessions.

Now twenty years later I discover it again. I looked at this attempt I had made a long time ago to make something for my mother. It wasn’t much and really was worthless for its intended use. I was unaware of it’s value until now. It had great meaning to my mother as she had kept it for over thirty years. I imagine every once in awhile, on a rainy day, to cheer herself, she would pull this out and smile. Her boy had made it just for her.