Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Once upon a time. . .

I had a pineapple bed. I’m not sure that’s what it’s really called, but that’s what we always called it.  One of the first beds I ever remember us having in our house was the pineapple bed.  It looked something like this:

pineapple bed

This isn’t mine, but mine looked something like this. We called it the pineapple bed, because the head and footboards have pineapples on them.  We had that bed my whole life I guess. I can’t remember us NOT having it.  We took turns sleeping in it. but it seemed to be mine more than my sisters.  No matter where we moved, it seemed to always go with us.  This single bed was the bed I slept in for years.  I actually never got a bigger bed until after my mom passed away in 2001. 

I loved my bed.  We used to run and jump on it. All of our names had been scratched into the headboard. I think I did most of the scratching of names one summer when I was punished by having to go to bed at 7:00 every night.  It was still light outside!   We didn’t have air conditioning in our house, so the windows were open and I could hear the rest of the neighborhood  kids playing outside.  I read my first romance book lying in that bed. I’ve been all over the world, in that bed, reading books.  It’s been repaired several times, probably from the running and jumping on it.

It hasn’t been assembled for a while. It was standing up against the wall in my old house.  When I moved to my new house, I didn’t need it, but I just couldn’t get rid of it. 

So, fast forward a little. One day I was wandering around Pinterest and saw a bench made from a pineapple bed.  It was beautiful, but I wondered who could  make it for  me. 

I’m very blessed to have some really, really good friends who are really, really crafty.  My friend Mr. Donald is a craftsman who make beautiful things. He turns acrylic blocks into pens, he makes wood blocks into pens, he makes cute bowls and beautiful bookshelves.  He can also make a bench from a pineapple bed. 

Today, my friends delivered my bench.    It is beyond  beautiful. I love words, but words escape me. When he brought in my bench, I cried a little bit.   The memories that flew through my mind,  and just how beautiful it is the brought me to tears. Again, words fail me.  I thought about sitting on that bed with my head in my daddy’s lap, while he and my mama checked my newly pierced ears.  I remembered lying on that bed, waiting for him to come and spank me.  I remember Mama sitting with me while I was sick.  I remember both of them sitting with me while I said my prayers.  Now, there will be a whole new set of memories from that bed. 

So, are you ready?  With no more words, may I present, my recycled pineapple bed that is now my pineapple bench!

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