Sammy’s Chair

Twenty-some years ago, when my family made the move from Iowa to Minnesota, my mom was faced with packing up two houses – our house and the house of Sammy, a lovely lady who was a grandma to Tony and me (though we called her “Aunt Sammy.”) Growing up we spent hours upon hours with her – at her home, out on shopping trips, even overnight adventures – like one to DeSmit, SD, to see a pageant about Laura Ingalls Wilder. In her home, she had a chair that Tony and I would fight over take turns sitting in. When it came time to move the furniture from her house, I mentioned how I wanted to keep the chair.  At the time, there wasn’t a place for my family to store it safely (it was Sammy’s dad’s chair, so quite old.)  My mom’s friend, Marilyn, came to the rescue and unbeknownst to me, offered to store the chair until we were ready for it.  Fast forward 4 years, and the chair made its way up to Minnesota…surprising both my brother and me that it was still around.

It sat in my parents’ home (with a slip cover and later in storage again) for another 19 years until finally, this fall, we had it reupholstered.  Here is the chair before:

And here is the chair after.  Drum roll please…..

Can you believe that is the same chair?!  (The ottoman was part of the original pair.)  I am beyond thrilled to have this piece of furniture (full of so many wonderful childhood memories) in our home.  Many, many thanks to our family friend, Marilyn and my parents for keeping it safe for so many years!