My husband made me handmade furniture.

My son went to a technical school when he was in high school.

I thought it was just a way to get away from a lot of homework and sitting in boring classes. I was surprised to find out that he was actually learning a trade that would give him a career when he graduated. When I thought of woodworking, I pictured the cutesy wood burnt carvings you saw outside of houses, or small trinket boxes. I never thought he would be a craftsman of fine handmade furniture. During his last year of school, he had to have a project for his final grade. He spent the entire year working on his project, and he never talked about it. I knew he was working part-time so he could afford to do his project. I had seen some of the handmade projects he had done in the last two years, and I was impressed. He made a river dining table for my sister, one year. The following year he made an oak rocking chair for his grandmother. The project he was doing this year had to be something amazing. I was sure that he had a future in creating handmade furniture, after he graduated. About a month before graduation, he was coming home at night smelling like wood stains. I asked my husband what project he was working on, and he told me it was a surprise that he wanted to show me on his own. The week before graduation, the parents were invited to a showing of the final projects. I was shocked to see that my son had made me a handmade curly maple coffee table and matching rocking chair for my living room. I embarrassed him when I cried in front of the teacher.

Tuscan beauty