Full circle

Once upon a time, in the year 1998, Garry and I bought our first couch.  A year later, when the matching love seat and side chair were on clearance, we completed the set.  Those couches served us well for 14 years.  (Here is a couch picture from when Zach was a baby.)

Then, for my birthday last year, I wanted a couch (well, that's way too much for a birthday present, but I thought we should get a couch and call it that).  In response to my request, Garry decided to build a sectional.  It was an epic project.  He did the construction and I did the upholstering.  It took months to make. The couch was finished almost exactly one year ago.

Sadly, the project didn't turn out as planned.  A few design flaws and other things that made the couch less than ideal for a family sofa.  But having spent all that time and money on it, we had to use it.  And used it we have.  The kids love to play hide and seek in the storage compartments.  They love to eat on it (though they are forbidden to do so), and there are plenty of stains to prove it.  They don't seem to object to any aspect of the couch, but I find it so uncomfortable that I rarely spend time watching TV or doing anything else in the basement.

Also last summer, just before the sectional was completed, the Waldo Canyon Fire destroyed hundreds of homes in our area.  The parents of a ward member lost their home, and we gave our couches to them.

The timing was perfect for us, since we needed to make room for the sectional.  A few weeks ago we learned that that family had finished rebuilding and didn't want our old couches anymore, so they offered to return them.  Ha!  We accepted, and the orange couch was on its way out.  The blue couches are serving our family once more, although the matching love seat went to a family who lost their home in the Black Forest fire this summer.

Today we had a garage sale, and the orange couch was center stage. Although we don't have a buyer yet, several people have expressed interest.  It is listed for sale online.  If it doesn't sell in a few days, we will donate it to Goodwill. We have made peace with the sad outcome of Garry's construction project, and now it is time to move on. Farewell, orange couch, farewell. 

P.S. We finally received our red couch (for the upstairs living room) a couple of weeks ago. That's my birthday present for this year.  I absolutely love it!