I know I can't blame Owen for all of the "treasures" I found deep inside the chair, and the reason I know that is because this is not my first treasure chair expedition. The chair belonged to my great grandma. It sat in her house for as long as I can remember, and I always loved the velvety purple fabric and the way that you sort of sunk into it when you sat down. I remember holidays in that chair, the smell of dinner cooking, and me curled up in its cozy seat eating the sweet pickles and cheddar cheese slices I'd swiped from the relish tray. I felt lucky to inherit the chair from grandma and happily moved it into my first apartment, then into my first home, but it wasn't until our move into home number two that I discovered its secret hiding spot.
At first we just noticed a rattling sound when we tried to move the chair. Once we realized that the rattling was coming from the inside, I removed the cushion and reached down into the spot where the arm meets the seat. The first thing I pulled out was a drumstick (the instrument, not the food). Next came a pine cone, about 7 beer bottle caps, and one white Barbie boot that looked like it might have belonged to Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Barbie (if she existed). I could attribute the drumstick and bottle tops to Neil, and the pine cone smelled faintly of cinnamon, so I knew it was a wayward Christmas decoration. But the Barbie Boot? This was long before we'd even thought about having kids, and there had been very few child visitors to our home at that time in our lives. However, the chair itself was no stranger to children. When it sat in my grandmother's house, at least four female grandchildren and five girl great-grandchildren had more than likely played Barbies in it at one time or another; there was a very good chance that Barbie's cowboy boot had been hidden in the chair for a long, long time. I have no memory of ever owning a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Barbie, but I like to think that at some point I sat in the chair at grandma's, playing Barbies while the grown ups cooked dinner, and decided to put Barbie's boot down in "the treasure chest" for safe keeping...sort of like Owen did with his harmonica, Hot Wheels, and his beloved chips.
Our chair has seen better days. There are threadbare sections on it's arms and seat cushion, and the fabric underneath is ripped and hanging loose, but it still looks pretty good considering its age. The yellowed tag located on the underside of the chair confirms that Great Grandma Mary and Great Grandpa Ben purchased it from The Sunshine Store in Astoria, Illinois on May 12th, 1939. It's been a part of our family for 73 years, and I will continue to treasure our Treasure Chair as long as I live.
