The Partnership Continues

It was the first piece of furniture we ever purchased. We bought it wholesale from the Sligh furniture factory and still paid a whopping $1,500 in 1979! It's first home was in the living-room-converted-to-office at 7870 Shadybrook, Ada, MI. It was the desk at which I did my bishopric work and in the room where I did many interviews (behind our first set of French doors and in front of our first set of built-in bookcases).

From Ada it moved with us to Troy, where it resided in a small den to the left of the entry hall. The bookcases were not built-in but were serviceable. It was in this setting that I prepared Old Testament seminary lessons each day at the desk.

From Troy it moved with us to Scottsdale, where it held a place of honor in the living room but where it also became somewhat less used, as we entered the era of the personal computer and kept the computer in the family room.

From Scottsdale it moved with us to Harvard Avenue where, for the past 13 years, it has been in the living room but little-used, being a floor away from the computer and even further from the files and desks in the master bedroom.

As we began to consider better ways to organize our life, it became clear that the famous partnership desk might again play a prominent role, if only it could be moved upstairs. But how to get a desk measuring 40" x 60" up the staircase without damaging the desk, the expensively-painted walls, or the even more-expensively repaired antique stained glass window? Call Calvin? Call Calvin, Sam and Luke? Call the Taylor boys? All opined it could not be done.

In the end we called Leroy at Furniture Masters ("Pianos, Furniture, In-house Moves") who spent 15 minutes measuring and pondering, finally declaring, "We can do this." You see the results in the photograph. The partnership desk is back in use!