Wednesday, October 20, 2010

When it's time to let go....

I was at the ECO station "letting go" of all the junk you don't take to the dump anymore and umpteen gallons of paint.  In the drive-thru, the old guy in front of me had this old pink rocker in the hatchback of his car. I watched as he slowly unloaded it and was told to put it outside our lane and a back hoe would come and pick it up. He hoisted it out of the car by himself and I saw memories float by with the chair, as he gently set it in the lane for pickup.  Maybe it belonged to his mother and no one wanted the chair anymore.  Maybe it belonged to his wife and he didn't want it anymore. Maybe he had a new wife and she wanted a new chair. Maybe he had just simply decided it was time to let the chair go, but I couldn't help but think of memories the chair had if it could talk.  There seemed to almost be a silent cry coming from the chair.  There was a day when that pink chair held elelgance and would have held  pride for whoever bought it, as it found it's place in a new home. There would have been a time when a white crocheted, vintage doily adorned the top,  as the woman who owned it would scold the kids about getting cookie crumbs on the fabric. The husband was probably reprimanded for knocking his cigarette ashes on it or spilling his rye and coke. It probably held years of rocked rhythym to the sound of snoring and kids crying. It held miles of smiles as people groaned and settled their big butts into it, while getting off their tired feet. As the years passed, it probably was moved from the main spot in the living room to the basement.  It probably rocked the dad, the mother, the children, and the grandchildren. And without doubt it was somebody's favorite place to sit.  It wasn't as pink as when it was new and the fabric was still good.....but it was time to let it go. It was being discarded with all the memories tucked inside it's fabric. And now it sits all alone waiting for the backhoe.  I couldn't help but feel sad for the pink chair. 
 And so..... I took it's picture.



I had a brand new green recliner once that cost me $49.00  at Zellers in 1970. After many years we had outgrown the chair and had to let it go. It also had many memories when I gave it to my brother.
 I kept the cute kid.
After 15 more years at my brother's house  it came time..... to let it go.... with one last sitting of a 2nd generation child, and  a sad lip at the dump. Again, a sadness for the chair and all the memories that flashed from it,  brought out the camera for just one last shot.
He kept the kid as well.

And the recliner went to Chair Heaven.



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