The Happy Chair

When our kids were growing up, they knew if dad was wearing his "Maui hat" that I was in my happy place.  The same can be said about the round swivel chair we purchased for our master bedroom during our home renovation in Southern California.  Our youngest son nicknamed this chair the "Maui chair."  We also called it our "happy chair."  It's the place where I penned my first memoir.  My wife and I loved to snuggle on it.  Letting go of this chair was a challenge for me.  The new homeowners made us on offer we couldn't refuse on our furniture.  We said goodbye to the happy chair eight years ago when we moved to Iowa to begin our new lives.

I spotted a chair at my day job yesterday that reminded me of our happy chair.  It arrived early in the morning before I started my shift.  People were gathering around it like tire kickers at a car lot when something special shows up.  My heart skipped a beat when someone put the happy chair on their flatbed and headed to the checkout line.  That left three in inventory and the way the furniture was moving I knew they would all be gone quickly so I got our happy chair on my lunch break and headed out to my SUV to load it up.  When it didn't fit, I pulled it out of the box and attempted to squeeze it in.  A couple of onlookers came over to assist.  Unfortunately, it was one inch too big to fit.  I called my wife and asked her to come over and swap vehicles.  She did everything she could to get me to cough up what was going on but I refused to spoil the surprise.  She popped in an hour later and we swapped keys.  I asked her to go straight home because I didn't want her to see the happy chair on display.

A huge storm hit us at the end of my shift.  Tornado sirens were blazing.  The radar looked horrific.  I moved fast to get the happy chair in her SUV.  Even though her vehicle was bigger, the dimensions in the cargo area didn't work, even without the bulky box.  A co-worker helped with a tarp and bungee cord and we secured the tailgate as best as possible to transport the oversized cargo.  I waited for the hail to pass and made my way home between two giant storm clouds.  Baseball size hail was reported in the town next to us.  The drive home was scary but I made it.  My wife helped me get the new happy chair into our basement and we did the reveal after dinner.  She couldn't believe it.  Our happy chair was back in the family.  It swivels just like our first happy chair!  Now the inside of our home is complete.  We look forward to sharing our happy chair when COVID-19 is over and we can entertain again.  Have a great day.