The old black propane grill seemed to sag a bit sitting on the side of the road Saturday evening.

It had been rolled there along with the garbage cart in anticipation of the Monday garbage collection.

It was joined along the quiet street by a giant box that contained the pieces of what is now my new gleaming propane grill, a Christmas gift from my family.

I’m sure Santa’s elves would have assembled the new device had the jolly ole elf been one to drop it off. Still I am grateful for the new device. I mean no insult to my family. It is a great gift.

And wife, Nancy, did help me put it together. She actually was willing to read the instructions and find the properly numbered bolts. She was the one who could determine which of the stainless steel panels went on which side – “L” for left , “R” for right.

She didn’t have to do the assembly of the old black grill, the one left by the side of the road this weekend. The folks at Home Depot in Easley had done it for her. She has actually had that grill longer than she has had me.

I did come along at an appropriate time in the life of the old grill. I started hanging around the family in the spring of 2011. By the time Nancy and I married, the old black grill was well broken in. I took charge of most of the grilling, and my new family and I enjoyed loads of burgers, some steaks, lots chicken breasts and pans of salmon.

It sat handily between the kitchen door and a screened porch dining area we created for summer evening meals. My wonderful cook of a wife put together the plans for these mouthwatering events and supervised the speed and schedule of the grilling. The meals were wonderful times away from the distractions of televisions and iphones for our group of teens when we had real, live discussions of current events, religion, wars, music, homework, grades, drugs, abortion, the TV show “Teen Mom” and a million other subjects requiring yelling, uproarious, laughter, earnest lecturers, and a few tears.

They have been times of pain and joy and fear and pride. I count them among the best things I have been involved in during the last 18 months of my life.

That is why it was a bit sad to see when we returned from church Sunday that the old black, sagging, rusty grill was gone even though the garbage cart and the giant box for the new grill remained. It was not unexpected that some rummage entrepreneur in town would pick it up and try to make use of it or its aging parts. Such things as aging propane grills hold great potential in the hands of a rummage entrepreneur.

I would like to think it will go to a good home and help provide good raucous, thought provoking meals for another family. That is the great value of a grill, the family memories that develop around it.

Now I’ll look forward to more years of adventures around the dining table.