"He's old and getting worse" the young man said to his wife. They had decided to get a wooden bowl and spoon for the old man to use when he ate his food.

The young man's father moving in with them was an inconvenience at first but now, at mealtime, the old man would drop things. Not just his silverware. He dropped cups and dishes onto the table or onto the floor. The hands of a craftsman that had served him well when his children were young were now shaking and unsteady. The old man had become annoyingly clumsy. After many discussions between the young man and his wife the decision was that this was unacceptable. The young man's father would eat away from the dinner table using a wooden bowl and wooden spoon that he could not break if he dropped them onto the floor.

For several days the old man ate alone at a small table in the corner of the room while the son, his wife, and their son ate at the dinner table. If the bowl or spoon dropped to the floor the grandson would pick them up and return them to his grandfather. The son and daughter-in-law were relieved that the distraction had been removed and they could enjoy their meals again.

Coming home from work one afternoon, the young man found his son sitting on the front porch with a pocket knife whittling on a huge block of wood. Visions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn lept into the young man's mind and he smiled as he approached the porch. He sat down next to his son and said, "You've started with a large piece of wood there son. Do you know what it will be when you have finished?".

The boy continued to whittle away at the block of wood for awhile and then said, "Yes I know what it will be, and then I must start on that one." he said pointing to another long and flat piece of wood laying next to him.

Unable to imagine what would require such a large block of wood the young man asked, "And what will it be when you finish?". The boy did not look at his father but said, "You told me that some day I will be a man like you and have a family and that grandpa was like you a long time ago. He got old and now he is my grandpa. I figure some day you will get old. When you do get old I want to have a wooden bowl and wooden spoon for you to eat with".

After this conversation the wooden bowl and spoon disappeared and the old man ate every meal at the table with his son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandson.