On Getting A Benji Reyes Chair For Oliver's Birthday

Our "Rajah" with Narra seat, Guijo backrest, Balayong armrest, Molave crown.

It isn't just any chair. It is our family's beginnings beautifully rendered in wood by the artist Benji Reyes, who kindly obliged my request for customized wood for his classic Rajah design.  Its seat is made of Narra, its back rest, of Guijo.  

These kinds of wood, of course, are the species of Philippine hardwood after which our children are named.  Literally and figuratively: Narra's supporting our weight, and Guijo's got our back. When I see Oliver sitting on this chair, I feel my throat tightening, as though I want to cry. I want him to rest his weary body on it, to lean on it completely, as he'd lean on his family during trying times, especially on Narra and Guijo. After all, don't parents lean on their children - for daily doses of hope and inspiration necessary for our sanity, and sometimes, even survival?  I've seen Oliver plunge to the depths of depression when he lost loved ones, and I felt helpless as I watched from the side.  I wanted to find a way to give him a lifeline, something to hold on to, something solid, and as effective - though less fleeting - than our children's life-giving laughter. This chair, no, it is not just a chair.  It is our lifeline. His and mine. Something to touch, and grab, when the world is reeling, and we need to sit for moment until the spinning stops and everything comes back into focus.  For those kinds of moments, one needs a really good chair, that supports not just one's weight, but one's spirit.

10-month old Guijo, admiring the arm rest made of Balayong.

This chair is like a trophy for me, an impossible purchase I shouldn't have been able to afford given the fact that I was out of a job when I bought it.  But the universe conspires to give us our heart's desire, and out of nowhere, I won a Prize for my thesis, the Wang Gung Wu Prize for Best Thesis, and with the cash award, I wanted an inspired purchase, one that would last my lifetime - and even beyond.  I wanted to get Oliver a birthday gift he would really like, and what art collector wouldn't be happy with a Benji Reyes piece?  But I wanted something more personal than a piece purchased from a gallery - I hoped that our family's story would be crafted into the making of our specific chair - and celestial forces were again kind to me, allowing me to catch the busy artist at a time when he could accommodate my requests for specific kinds of wood to be used. Of course, Narra and Guijo were the first types of wood I requested. Followed by Balayong, which is the "signature" wood used extensively in our current home in Pasay.  We used the reddish wood everywhere, for our stairs and shelves, ledges and benches, ladders and drawers, cupboards and frames.  Benji Reyes made the armrests of the chair with Balayong, and I was overjoyed when I saw how well the hues of the wood used on our new chair blended with the existing wood elements in our house.  It looked like it belonged to the house, like it's always been here all along. It simply fit in, beautifully.

The hues of the wood used for our Rajah chair blends well with our existing wood trims.

The chair has a crown made of Molave, another species of wood I requested for. At our wedding, Oliver and I chose Molave seedlings as souvenirs for our guests. We planted our Molave tree on the lawn of our first home, a symbol of our decision to root ourselves on Philippine soil after years spent abroad.  This brings to mind lines from the famous patriotic poem "Like the Molave", and the qualities I wish for our marriage, enumerated thus:

"Like the Molave,  firm, resilient, staunch,

rising on the hillside, unafraid,

Strong in its own fiber, yes, like the Molave!"

This chair, it is strong and robust - but not rigid, oh no, not at all! Sitting on it, one feels a contradiction!  It feels like sitting on a rock-solid surface on one hand - but at the same time like sitting on air too! It's seat and armrests offer stability, while the back - oh my! the back rest of this chair - it is where the woodworker as artist and engineer is best able to show off his genius!  Benji Reyes borrowed principles of the bow, so the backrest flexes according to the person's weight.  The back rest appears to be floating, because it is unattached to the armrests. The result, is a pleasantly empowering sensation: one gets to lean back - but not in a granny-in-a-rocking-chair-way; rather, one leans back in a "Rajah-viewing-his-kingdom-taking-stock-of-his-victories" kind-of-way.  For sure, I can relax on this chair, without wanting to sleep.  It's no recliner nor lounge chair. It's a Rajah. Proud, strong, upright, stately, active, and empowered. But it gives a little, it flexes, it bends backwards, it offers a gentle and subtle accommodation. And this dynamic I get from this chair - between firmness and flexibility - is what I hope for in our marriage, and parenting.  I wish our family life can have a solid construction, based on sound principles we can live by firmly - but at the same time, I want it to be a somewhat soft home, a nurturing one, where kindness and tenderness governs our dealings with each other, and a certain degree of flexibility allows us to make room for each other's quirks.

Oliver, receiving the Certificate of Authenticity.
He asks jokingly:  "Is there an actual chair included?"

It was a few months before Oliver's birthday that I ordered the chair, and it arrived a week early! Oh, it was a stressful week. I am not good at keeping secrets, and I was so tempted to show it to him already, after all, what is a birthday? It's an arbitrary day, like any other day! But I controlled myself, and bit my lip, resisting my urge to spill the news. I hid the chair in our guest room, with the chair''s backrest behind curtains, and the seat, arms, and legs draped with carefully positioned "mounds" of linen and clothing waiting to be ironed. I feared Oliver would look for something in the guest room and discover his gift!  When we went out to dinner a day before his birthday, I casually handed him a brown envelope and said "Happy Birthday, here's my gift" (haha, he must have thought I was giving him an insurance policy for his birthday!). And out came the Certificate of Authenticity,  with a picture of the chair, its description, and the artist's signature. "May chair bang kasama ito?" (does this come with an actual chair?) he joked. 

Narra, inspecting the chair and feeling the back rest flex.

When we got home, Oliver finally unwrapped the chair, and Narra was so excited to see it at last! She'd been curious about it, making a daily pilgrimage to the guest room to pop her usual quota of bubble wrap per visit. A week of waiting heightened her anticipation.  When the chair was unveiled at last, our entire family appreciated the piece with all our senses! We looked, and touched, tapped and smelled, even tasted the wood! Guijo, being the teething baby that he is, explores the world and tries to make sense of it by putting things in his mouth, wood, included :-D  As for "hearing" wood, and "smelling" it, my mom does that. She and my dad are both passionate about Philippine hard wood, and they designed their own tables and chairs, and doors and benches for their own home. My mom was tapping and knocking on the different wood surfaces, listening to its timbre/timber! (pun intended).  The knocking and tapping was followed by some lifting, to get a sense of the piece's density, and we couldn't decide if it was heavy or light (Benji Reyes was playing tricks on our senses). Then came the sniffing.  When I put my nostrils close to the back splat, and took a whiff - oh my, it smelled fresh off the woodworker's workshop, and brought back memories of my parents' many wood projects while they were building our home. 

Oliver, admiring the Kamagong dowels.

It felt really good to get Oliver that chair. It wasn't the usual lame gift that got a tepid response. Nope!!  It was one of those really good gifts that offer something not just to the receiver, but to the giver as well. In getting him this chair, I got something back, that I needed very badly. It rekindled a desire to acquire! To want things, and to work hard to save for the things I want.  For quite some time now, I was okay, with being "just okay".  Of staying at home with my kids and celebrating little daily triumphs. But now, I want a lot more. I want to partake of quality things - of great craftsmanship, and inspired design! I want works of art - whether in food or furniture, or clothes; I want  to speak better, think better, dress better, work harder, earn more, to live fuller!  I also want to be like Benji Reyes, who gets to create something, a person who matters and has the power to touch lives with his works. I am inspired as much by the artist, as the work he produced.  So now, I want to write, and research, and fulfill the "promise" of being a scholar, which is what that Wang Gung Wu Prize was all about. With that cash Prize I made this purchase, and with this purchase I got my drive back. Funny how things work. Whatever stubborn stupor or restraining rut I was in seems to be coming to an end.  I am sitting on the Rajah chair and feeling power course through my skin.  I am glad I did not get the "Tumba-tumba" rocking chair, or even the riveting and engineering-marvel-of-a-piece called "Juan Tamad" (an impossible purchase which was way out of my budget anyway, and which the in-demand artist did not have time to produce this year).  Those chairs are for resting after I've toiled hard for years and really deserved a reward.  For now, though, at this stage in my life, when I am on the cusp of recovery, it is the Rajah that needs to be here, in this house, right now.  It is this stately chair, tall and proud, active and upright, firm but flexible... it is powerful chair that I need to see every day for my daily serving of empowerment. 

Narra and Guijo, enjoying the Rajah chair immediately upon waking up,
(and still in their sleepwear), the morning after their father's birthday.

And I will not lose sight of the fact that this chair is made of Narra ang Guijo, Molave and Balayong. These species of wood will remind me that whatever quest for self-fulfillment I embark on now, will always be in my capacity as mother and wife, and I must always find the right balance between my desire to make something out of my career, and to be there for my family. 

For Oliver's birthday, I got him a chair. It isn't just any chair, but a Benji Reyes. And that made all the difference.

Oliver's first time to sit on his Rajah chair.