Life on a Chair

My life can now be summed up in a chair.

It sounds strange, but the main events, my core beliefs, and advice I'd want to leave behind to my children and students are now on a wooden chair. This has been one of my summer projects.  Take a look:

The chair is covered with encouraging and
inspirational words and phrases like:
Be yourself, Create, Explore, Laugh, Play,
Appreciate, Imagine, Choose Joy,
Inspire, Ask Questions, and many more.

"Everyone has a story to share...and deserves a happy ending."

"You have the power to say that this is not
how the story will end."

Each circle represents a school that I attended or have taught in
from my kindergarten year in 1975 until the present.  Whew! There
is only one rung in the chair left, so I guess I won't be
changing schools much more. :)

The back of the chair includes things a bit more
personal. Here you can see the birth dates of my children, other
significant dates, and my Etch-a-Sketch.  

I have a sunset with five clouds. These represent the five
students I've had in class over the years that have died. 

"The greatest of these is Love"

I love this. It was inspired by having to paint and repaint and
REPAINT a big goof on another part of the chair.

I love playing Scrabble! 

I'll use it as an Author's Chair or for our Show Time (a fun story telling time) in my classroom. It will surely be a conversation piece at times that may lead to deep discussions about things that are truly important.

I had another one I used for about ten years.  It was similar in style and design but it didn't have any words on it.  My daughter and her friend helped me paint it when she was in first grade.  After having to glue it back together for about a year, I retired it to storage. I'm hoping that all the coats of polyurethane on this one will help it last until I am the one that gets to be retired. :)