THE HAPPY CHAIR

The chair on the left in this picture is my Happy Chair. I bought it at the JC Penny Home Store in April of 1992, and I have lived almost half my life in it. It was the first piece of furniture I ever purchased (I think I paid $400 for it and about had a heart attack when I wrote the check), and if memory serves, it was originally cream waffle weave fabric.

This poor chair is old and stinky and worn out and probably not worthy of St. Vincent de Paul coming to pick it up, but I. Cannot. Part. With. It.

I have laughed and cried and read and stitched and slept and cuddled Stewey and played pumpkin and looked out the window and stared at the wall in this chair. It has been there as my cockpit in good times, bad times, in between times, and all times.

It fits me.

My mom would be completely appalled, but I sit sideways in this car with my right leg hitched over the arm. I don't know why that's comfortable...given my age and portliness you would think it impossible for me to be able to do so, but it somehow works for me and it's now habit.

The arms are also wide enough to hold my cup of damn good. Or a chart holder. Or eleventy-seven skeins of floss. There have been more needles parked in these arms than a dialysis unit, and both 

Bosco and Stewey loved to perch themselves there (when no needles were present) and look out the front door at the house.

This poor chair has been through it all, I tell ya. It once spent time in the garage because a nine-pound spider crawled over the top of it an disappeared into the depths of it, and even that wasn't enough to convince me to let it go. (The nice men at Stanley Steamer took it apart and cleaned the Bejessus out if it, so if the spider was still in there, he was very very clean.)

I thought that today was the day that I was going to take the Happy Chair down to the garage, and then call a junk man to come pick it up along with some other stuff from the house that I've sorted through, but...no.

I've compromised and capitulated and given up and complied and done what was recommended and followed orders and behaved myself HARD for a while now. I gave up control of my life in many ways, and prayed for strength and surrender to just let my life unfold according to whatever the plan was that was supposed to be best for me. I've changed myself in both big and small ways, and I've followed directions.

But today....I'm drawing a line.

I'm keeping my Happy Chair right where it is, and later today I am going to research upholstery companies and then look at fabrics to get it re-covered. I might have a slip cover made tor it, or I might have it completely re-done. I don't know. But what I do know is that this chair and I are going to be Happy together for many more years to come.