My grandfather is the sort of person who can’t sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. In fact, he barely makes it through family dinners without jumping up and whisking away everyone’s plates to do the dishes. Out of the many pastimes he’s perfected over the course of a long, fulfilling life, woodworking is perhaps his greatest passion. When he visits our house, he’s constantly checking the dining room chairs to see if they need replacement.

When I got married last year, he shipped me a coffee table made from scratch out of mulberry wood. The knots and imperfections in the material made it all the more visually appealing. For my part, I like to send him an inspirational item for his birthday and Christmas. Most recently I found a piece of intarsia wood wall art that he could use as a template for his own future projects.