The Table He Built With His Hands

For eleven months, Robert Callahan worked in his garage in Asheville, North Carolina, hand-planing black walnut boards for a dining table. He joined each piece with dovetails — no nails, no shortcuts. The table was for Sunday dinners, the one place his scattered family would sit together, pass bread, tell stories, and give thanks. When Robert returned from a two-week work trip, he found his teenage sons had turned the garage into a resale shop.…