The next day Gordon bought a type of glue that cabinetmakers use. Chip by chip, splintered piece by splintered piece, he reconstructed those chairs. Like a skilled surgeon, he matched up the jagged edges, reinforced the legs so they would bear weight and restored the chairs completely, detail work that took weeks to finish. The picture of Gordon hunched over those little slivers of wood, painstakingly fitting them together, will be forever etched in my mind's eye. What a labor of love.
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