The Chair in the Corner

When I was younger, we remodeled our kitchen. We, and by we-I really mean my parents, bought this nice dining room table from Harvey's that can fit up to eight people.  But since there were only four of us, we kept the table set for six..so those two extra chairs got put in the corners of the dining room.  The one chair was next to 'my spot' at the table...and everyone knew it was my place because I insisted on having a seat cushion on the chair...

But that chair in the corner right next to my place became 'my corner'...it became the place where everything got put..when I came home from a long day of band followed by school followed by cross country practice, ALL of my bags went there..the trumpet case, the ginormous book bag that was bigger than me, and of course the smelly cross country bag.

The chair would be full of papers and important things...when I couldn't find something, the best place to look was on the chair.  There were times when the chair was filled with all of the brochures that colleges send you in the mail...and there were times when it was filled with all of my trumpet music when I came home from a lesson.

After going off to college, my chair slowly creeped in to the corner while the chair without the cushion made its way to the table instead..but one thing stayed the same..not matter which chair was in the corner, it became a place for all of my stuff.

Today as I came home from running a few errands, I sat down for a moment in 'my chair' that is now in the corner of the dining room...and I suddenly realized how important this silly chair and seat cushion are to me. It's the place where I was sitting when my parents and I would have intense conversations about different topics during family dinners.  It's the place where I sat when my parents and I discussed my plans for the future.  It's the place where I did my homework..but most importantly, it is a reminder that so many positive things can happen around the dinner table when a family makes an effort to eat together.

As I get ready for another semester of school, I am feeling lucky to have my wonderful parents and sister in my life...and I am so grateful for all of those family dinners around the dinner table when I was able to sit in 'my chair.'