Not Your Average Porch Swing

Let me give you a little background to this story.  When Andrew and I first moved to Arkansas, we went to this barbeque restaurant in town for dinner one night.  The owner came up to introduce herself and we must have talked for thirty minutes about anything and everything.  There was an instant connection.  I really can’t explain it, to be honest. You seriously could not meet a nicer lady.  When Andrew’s mom came to visit, we took her to this restaurant to eat and she fell in love with the owner too.

Okay, now that I’ve told that part I’ll explain what that has to do with my new porch swing.  Since we’ve moved into our house I’ve wanted a porch swing, but I could never find the perfect one.  Every swing I saw was a plain rectangle and just didn’t do it for me.  I’m the type of person that would rather wait until I find the PERFECT item than buy one just to have one.  I kept holding out and putting it off because I wanted one with character.  I couldn’t even tell you what kind of porch swing I had in mind, I just knew it wasn’t any of the ones I saw in the store or online.  A porch swing is where you drink coffee or swing with your babies.  Andrew and I know this couple that swings on their porch swing EVERY morning and drinks their coffee.  So many memories are made on a porch swing!  I almost caved a few times because I was looking forward to swinging on the front porch with Oakley, but I’m so glad I didn’t.

A couple of weeks ago, Andrew and I went to an auction.  We pulled up to the cutest cul-de-sac.  All of the houses surrounded this pond, which was really more like a lake and they were all beautiful.  They were traditional style homes with different colored shutters and large porches.  We parked Andrew’s truck and went walking up to the auction when I saw my friend, the owner of the restaurant that we met when we first moved here.  We both smiled and hugged!  I was so happy to see her and catch up until all of the pieces of the puzzle started coming together.  It wasn’t long after talking to her that I realized that auction was for her dad that recently passed away.  All of the houses that surrounded the “lake” were her family members houses. I met her mom, her sister, and her sister’s grandkids.  I was excited to meet all of them but not under those circumstances.  It was a tool sale as they were auctioning off everything in his shop, but as I was looking around I noticed an old porch swing. It was perfect! It had detail on the back and almost made a heart shape.  The paint was a purplish color and really chipped.  It looked like it was going to go unnoticed because everyone was there for tools and it was in the back laid on top of something.  I told Andrew that I really wanted that porch swing, so we agreed on a price.  The auction went on but they weren’t getting close to the porch swing and Oakley was ready to take a nap.  I was so bummed that I wasn’t going to get a chance to bid on that porch swing. I told my friend that I really wanted the porch swing but I wasn’t going to be able to stay.  She didn’t even know they were selling a porch swing until I showed her where it was at and she said she remembered it.  Before I left, I asked another friend to bid on it for me.

Later that evening, I got a message saying that I won the porch swing!  My friend that I asked to bid on it for me said her aunt won it with some other items as a package deal, but she was going to sell it to me.  The next day we met up with our realtor who was the auctioneer and he had my new porch swing loaded up in the back of his truck.  I had my check ready to go and I asked him how I needed to make it out for.  He said that it was paid for.  My friend paid for it.  She paid for it because she wanted me to have her dad’s old porch swing.  Now this porch swing really meant more than just a picture-perfect swing to go with my farmhouse.  I texted my friend and told her I was so thankful and excited.  She explained to me that she knew we would create many more memories with Oakley on that swing and she wanted us to have it.  This is why our porch swing isn’t your average porch swing.  This is why I’m a believer in finding the perfect item, rather than settling for something just to have it.  This porch swing was passed down from a wonderful family that created many memories on it and we hope to do the same!

 

Andrew sanded it and painted it white.  I really don’t think it could be any more perfect!  The cat in the pictures is our cat Garth that was born on Easter in the back of Andrew’s truck!