I hope that everyone had a wonderful break. I wanted to share something new in the Barrow Media Center. I received a special chair for Christmas, which now sits in our media center. It’s the chair I will sit in as I read stories to everyone. Of course, there’s a story to go along with the chair.

Last May, I was at my parents’ house in Blue Ridge, GA. We visited Arts in the Park, a local arts and crafts fair. My eye was caught by a rocking chair made out of thin, twisting sticks from the forest. I had never seen a chair like this before, but I immediately knew that this was the perfect rocking chair for me and my love of old stories. The $300 price tag was not as welcoming as the chair.

I showed the chair to my dad and he, of course, said, “I could make something like that.” He almost always says this, and it’s true. He can build practically anything he puts his mind to. I knew I wasn’t buying the chair, but my mind started working and thinking about what my own stick rocking chair might look like. I gave my dad a few ideas and dismissed the thought of him building one because I know how busy he is taking care of my Mom and Grandparents.

This Christmas, as we were opening our presents, Dad handed me a little bag with a note tucked inside. “Go to the basement. Look under the tarp. Love, Dad.” I was taken back to Christmases ago when I had to go on a scavenger hunt to find one of my Christmas presents. As soon as I saw the note and thought about the scavenger hunt, I remembered the chair I had seen in May.

Down the stairs I went to uncover the tarp. When I pulled back the tarp, this is what I saw.

The chair is made of several pieces of trees that Dad gathered from various locations on our property in Blue Ridge. The seat and arms are made from wood from the “Old House”, which was part of the plan I shared with Dad back in May. The seat and the arms are really what make the chair the most special to me. The “Old House” was my Great, Great Aunt’s house. It is hidden in the woods down a road that you really have to look to find, and it’s walls are beginning to crumble. My Great Grandfather was raised in this house and the wood used to build its walls was collected from the property where the house sits. Today it is over 100 years old. The seat and arms of my rocking chair are made from wood Dad salvaged from the kitchen area of the house.

In May, I had only thought that the chair I saw was perfect. Now I have the perfect chair. It’s a chair that holds many memories. Memories of the “Old House” where my Dad and I worked in the garden, drank water from a spring on the side of the road, and chopped wood to sell. Memories of my childhood in Blue Ridge and the trees and stream that I loved to play in and around. Most of all it holds memories of how much my Dad cares for me. He will always do anything for me and has sacrificed so much for me to make it to where I am today. I try my best to not take the things that I have for granted, and this chair will remind me of the hard work he has always put in throughout his entire life. Thanks Dad for this beautiful chair.