Lavender Chair

I’ve lived almost a century
born before World War I
survived the depression
thrived after World War II
acquired an education

married twice
lived longer than both men
had four children,
two boys and two girls
thirteen grandchildren
and five great grandchildren

I've sailed the Atlantic
been on an African Safari,
visited every state
in the United States

accumulated photographs,
souvenirs, art works
and artifacts,

loved my home
which I've lived in
for seventy-six years
but last Monday

a tornado blew
through Joplin
one of the worst
in one hundred years

I am still alive
but everything I owned is gone
nothing to show for my life
... except this lavender chair

everything will be okay
I won't be needing it
much longer anyway.

Retold after a news report of a 91 year
old woman who survived the storm
and had nothing left but a lavender chair.
Specific details are fictional.