At a secondhand shop the other day, I found this chair. It’s an official Harvard chair, and I was thrilled at the opportunity to buy such a cool piece of memorabilia for a fraction of the retail price!

The back has an engraved plate that reads “Ann to Bob 6-20-59,” so I thought I might try to figure out who the prior owner was.

After some quick googling, my dad ( @dmlarsonpath1) found this obituary, and as Robert Lynn Swaney married Ann on 6-20-59, it was clear I’d found the previous owner of the chair! And that it was a wedding gift <3 https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thegazette/obituary.aspx?n=robert-lynn-swaney&pid=190779809&fhid=13253

This is already a pretty cool story, but it gets even cooler, because it turns out Bob and I have quite a bit in common…

Bob ran cross country at Harvard, and I ran cross country at Colgate.

Bob served in the Navy, and both of my parents served in the Navy. (As a result, the Navy paid for my and Bob's Harvard educations.)

Bob had two children named Susan and David…My parents’ names are Susan and David…

Bob’s David had boy-girl twins named Samuel and Sylvia. My dad, David, has boy-girl twins, Denise and Derrick.

Bob was a doctor, and both of my parents were doctors, with my dad currently practicing at the hospital where Bob interned many years ago, and used to serve as a board member.

Crazy, right?! Here's a graphic representation of the similarities:

I've mailed Bob's son a letter to let him know that Bob's Harvard chair has passed into the hands of a grateful and cosmically aligned Harvard 2020 grad :-)

@Harvard I bet you’ll appreciate this story of two alumni connected by a 61 year old chair!!