Article: An inheritance.(heritage matters: on being southern)

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My husband and I used to live with disposable furniture, which was as moveable and impermanent as our lives. But then our son James was born so we bought a house, and my parents gave us their old cherry dining room table.

My parents bought the table when they moved from Newton to Jackson in 1961. It reminded me of my father's finned Chrysler--sturdy and streamlined--and the new table marked the beginning of our new life together.

I dressed that table before I dressed myself, arranging my mother's good silver forks, knives, and spoons as though they were jewelry. When there weren't any magnolias for a centerpiece, my ...

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