Couch Burning Party

The saga of our new furniture continues.  You might remember that we ordered some a couple weeks ago….It was this!

We ordered a couch, loveseat and recliner.  The loveseat doesn’t have that counsel in the middle like it’s shown in the picture.  I’m a no eating in the living room girl so I didn’t want a counsel to promote any thoughts of eating there.

Well…as I told you, my couch broke so I had no furniture in the living except that broken couch.  If anyone sat on it, the couch would groan and creak.  It was making me nervous that company would come and sit on it and it would break.  That would be super embarrassing.

So it got so that I would grab a dining whenever anyone came and have them sit on it…I would sit on the couch.  Well that seemed a little rude-me offering them a hard chair while I sat on what appeared to be a comfy couch.

Then Kalissa tried calling Lansing Furniture, the place we ordered the furniture from, and explained our situation telling the sales lady her dad was given days to live and could it please somehow be expedited.  No luck.

So Kalissa said enough.  The day Karl got home she sent Karl and Buck into the living room.  She had them take my couch out and go to her house get her own couch and loveseat and put them in my living room.  She said she’d be here all the time anyway and she wanted visitors and all of us to be comfy.

Well that left the old couch.  Remember we have that hole that developed in our yard.  The plan has been to fill the hole and seed grass down.  It was suppose to happen this spring but…Kramer got sick.

So the boys put the couch in the hole for the time being thinking they’d burn it.  Kramer said no…it would make a mess.  I finally said…”Yep.  We’re burning it.  We met at a piano burning party.  We’re going out on a couch burning party.”  That’s the truth.

We did meet at a piano burning party.  We were young…Him 23 and me 19.  Another guy named Roger was having a party….it was the younger brother of a friend of his. Kramer was in a wedding that night.  He left the wedding early.  He had broken up with his fiance` the week before and wasn’t feeling very wedding festive.

I was at the party.  I came with my college roommate Lori.  She knew the friend of the other Roger who was having the party and got an invite through him.  We had come looking for something to do and people to hang out with.  The excitement of the party was that an old piano was getting burned.

Just before the piano went up in flames, a pick up pulled in and everyone yelled, “ROG!”.  A guy stepped out of the truck.  He said he saw people and remembered there was a party so he decided to stop.  He was wearing his tux pants, the bow tie, the cumberbun, and the tux jacket….no shirt.  Picture a Chippendales dancer.

I ended up meeting Kramer and the rest…well it’s history.

So…Thursday night a couch burning party happened to commemorate our start together.  (we’re allowed to burn in town)

Here’s the couch in the hole…..

…and here it is after the fire was going.

Some of the kids were outside.  It was too much for Kramer so we sat in the living, holding hands, both thankful for that night we met 34 years ago.

It sounds crazy…but burning a couch brought out a lot a sentiment and we were able to say a good good-bye before things deteriorated.

I was initially kind of frustrated that the couch decided to break just when we most needed a couch, but in reality, I think it was good timing.  As crazy as it seems, a couch burning party is just what Kramer and I needed to prompt some good conversation about our life together.

On a side note:
You might also remember that I said we were at Home Depot and I saw some pillows that I liked that might offer a pop a of color to the new couch….look what came in the mail!!  I adore them even more than ever.

When I opened the box we all got a big laugh.  Who would have thought two pillows could fit in this box.  Well they can if the bags are vacuum sealed shut.  

First a gift card from Roxie in Cresco Iowa to Home Depot so I could buy pillows…..

…and then a few days later,  Julie in FL sent me the actual pillows!!  How fun.

So…I have the pillows.  I’m going to get two more with the gift card.  Four pillows sounds nice….how crazy to have the pillows but not the furniture.

Thanks so much to Kalissa for borrowing her living furniture to us.  It’s been so needed as we hold vigil over Kramer.