As Richard swung the sledgehammer and pried old rusty 16penny nails, I thought about all the hard work we did in the late 1980s preparing for our first major renovation project.  Today, his task was to dismantle a shelving unit that was in the basement when we bought the house in 1985.  We can only guess its age by observing that the shelves were made of 2×6 tongue and groove at a time when boards were still milled at a full six inches.  As with much in this nearly 100-year-old house, there are the odds-and-ends of earlier construction projects.  As we wondered what such wood would have been used for, we both responded, simultaneously.  “That’s a question for Dad.”  “That’s a question for Ed.”  We laughed and I got a bit teary eyed.  While the ache of missing him has diminished after 16 years, it has not gone away; especially on a morning when we have carpentry questions.