chest of drawers

A long time ago, I mentioned to you that I really liked the pair of stacked chest of drawers you had and if you ever wanted to sell them, I would buy them from you. After you passed away, I mentioned that to my mom, who in return told Sandi and I know own one. When I picked it up, they told me one of the drawers was broken and after looking at it, it was just the slide for the drawer that had become detached, a simple repair. We put the piece in one of the drawers so it wouldn't get lost (INSERT FORESHADOWING HERE) and stacked them in the back of my car. We forgot about the loose piece and put some of the drawers in upside down so they wouldn't scratch each other and I never could find the piece after I unloaded and reassembled it in my dining room.

I had intentions of buying a piece of wood and cutting it down to repair it. A month or two ago, I even went to Home Depot and was able to buy a scrap that they cut to length for me for $0.50. It's been sitting in the garage ever since because I realized I needed a table saw to cut it down. After putting the boys down for a nap this afternoon, I was organizing the recycle bins and saw the pieces lying there. I decided to get a quick bite to eat and start working on it.

I pre-cut the sides that needed to be chiseled out with a utility knife, then tried to tap them out with a hammer and flat-head screw driver. After getting the majority out, I used my linoleum chisels to get them down to size and even brought out the electric sander to smooth it all out. I put the piece in, made sure it worked with the drawer and started to reassemble the other side but after I put in the magazines that had originally been there, the drawer wouldn't shut. I opened it up and lo-and-behold, the original piece that was missing (THAT I JUST MADE A REPLACEMENT FOR) fell out from where it was wedged all this time. I wanted to scream and cry after all the hard work I did for the better part of the past two hours, but all I could do was laugh because I knew you would be laughing your butt off at me. I also knew you would be proud of me for figuring it out and doing the work.

I took out the handmade piece, reattached the original, and the entire set is complete and functional now. At least I can say I know how to do it if I ever need to in the future. The handmade piece is now in the compost pile.