"The Four Chair Club"

My title of “Four Chairs” is my way of expressing the gratefulness I feel for my life. Four very special chairs represent me in this stage of life. Each one bring their own story of my seventy five years of being able to be here, on this earth, in this place and on this chair.

Let’s start with chair #1…I am sitting in it writing this…my computer chair. This particular piece of furniture sees me more than the other three as I spend the biggest part of my days and nights here pecking out with my pointer fingers the black keys that tell of my thoughts and feelings. I keep in touch with family and new found and old friends through email or FaceBook thru these keys.

The desk where my computer sits is messy, and I generally don’t like messy but lately I don’t get upset sitting here being crowded all around my keyboard. Crumbs from the soda crackers I keep on hand for those moments of feeling nauseous, or to eat before I take my meds; crumbs from my hulled sunflower seeds and wrappers of cough drops help make the litter even more loathsome. Uneven stacks of copy papers, catalogs from the mail, computer discs needing to be put away, just stuff. Oh, my big mug of ever present ice water on my left. A tight cover on it in case my elbow hits it and I knock it over. But it is overlooked with the silent promise to myself I will clean it up, sometime.

This was never, me, Not caring about keeping everything organized and cleaned up. Oh sure, things in the past have gotten messy but I would come to a halt in what I was doing and straighten everything up and then start over, all organized.

Funny that I am grateful for mess, isn’t it, but I am. I am here…I am functioning, I am living even though it wasn’t my plans nor thoughts to have these four chairs be the center of my life. I have learned to be grateful for the little things. Being able to look out my window and see the beautiful flowers, shrubs and notice the trees are growing bigger. For just a second I do lament the fact that a lot of things need doing out there….roses need to be pruned, shrubs cut down, things weeded, vines propped up, but I just say, ”thank you Lord for my yard”…. everything will survive inspite of what isn’t done. It always does.