Getting Even

"No, no, no! You have to sand WITH the grain!" The old man's exasperated cries echoed through his workshop as he snatched the sandpaper from his four-year-old grandson. "Like this."

His rough, cracked hands showed a tenderness with the wood that he did not display elsewhere in his life.

"See? You have to make your strokes even.." His tone softened, as if he were speaking directly to the unfinished oak beneath him. He began cooing as he pet the wood gently with the rough paper, forgetting the c...