A Tale of Two Chairs and a Rug
My mother became a resident of heaven two years ago on March 14. Slowly, initially one by one, pieces of furniture left the family home. I took home a small desk which had been given as a wedding present in the last of the 19th century. Later my brother loaded a piece that had belonged to my grandmother. It was called a pie safe made from a golden colored wood. The front was covered with tin panels punched with a design. The original use was to keep pies safe as they cooled and to keep them protected from impatient family members. For many years I remembered it as the place to find card games.
As time went on furniture began to leave at at a more rapid rate. One of the pieces was a recliner that I had asked for. It was a smaller recliner than ours with a greater firmness. Mom had this recliner for years. For about 2 years of her life she would take naps daily. She would call those naps " toes up", a term used by one of her favorite novelists. Since I have fallen in love with sleep by recliner I was certain a second one would be great. Although I never read the author who coined the term toes up looking at it will always remind me of how much she loved to read. Time went by and although I still wanted the recliner another chair slowly appeared on my wish list.
Before our wedding in December 1971 I had found a used chair for our apartment. My mother liked it and after she had it recovered she kept it and I took one of hers. Years went by and I didn't think about the chair. At some point my mother began doing a lot of knitting while sitting in that chair. My aunt would come to visit and my mom would sometimes show her her handiwork. Aunt Pauline had a low tolerance for errors in the stitches and mother would reluctantly pull out the less than perfect work. My mother discovered that the hospital needed more people to knit hats for the newborn babies. She volunteered and often made the hats as she sat in that chair as well as hats and afghans for new great grands. Now as my body is well supported by this chair I wonder about all the babies whose heads were well covered by my mother's work. The fruit of her diligence went into many homes,
When I asked for the 2 chairs, I had no idea how needed the chairs would be. I had received a diagnosis of osteoarthritis and knew that surgery would most likely be the result. I waited until I heard someone recommend a doctor. We recently had joined a gym. On 2 days about a week apart without requesting it I received 2 recommendations from 2 different women for a knee surgeon who works out of a large orthopedic practice. That was the green light I needed and I made my appointment. So many chairs made today do not have the support a patient needs after knee surgery. Both of the two chairs provide what I need. In our tri-level house I now have a recliner on the two bottom levels.
We had a rug we liked but as the surgery date approached I wondered about keeping it. The rug had developed ripples along the edges and I had caught my foot on it many times. I had grown used to a rug in the living room and then I remembered my mother's rug. It was a high quality rug bought over 50 years ago for my grandmother. I knew the family who bought the house did not want the rugs and so I brought the rug home. The edges laid as flat in my house as they had done all those years in Salisbury. I am the third generation to be blessed by this well made rug.
Two chairs and a a rug, all items purchased many years ago when I was still a child were just what I needed as I prepared for surgery. No shopping trips and no extra money were needed to add these to our home at the right time. God's grace is revealed every day in a multitude of ways.
As time went on furniture began to leave at at a more rapid rate. One of the pieces was a recliner that I had asked for. It was a smaller recliner than ours with a greater firmness. Mom had this recliner for years. For about 2 years of her life she would take naps daily. She would call those naps " toes up", a term used by one of her favorite novelists. Since I have fallen in love with sleep by recliner I was certain a second one would be great. Although I never read the author who coined the term toes up looking at it will always remind me of how much she loved to read. Time went by and although I still wanted the recliner another chair slowly appeared on my wish list.
Before our wedding in December 1971 I had found a used chair for our apartment. My mother liked it and after she had it recovered she kept it and I took one of hers. Years went by and I didn't think about the chair. At some point my mother began doing a lot of knitting while sitting in that chair. My aunt would come to visit and my mom would sometimes show her her handiwork. Aunt Pauline had a low tolerance for errors in the stitches and mother would reluctantly pull out the less than perfect work. My mother discovered that the hospital needed more people to knit hats for the newborn babies. She volunteered and often made the hats as she sat in that chair as well as hats and afghans for new great grands. Now as my body is well supported by this chair I wonder about all the babies whose heads were well covered by my mother's work. The fruit of her diligence went into many homes,
When I asked for the 2 chairs, I had no idea how needed the chairs would be. I had received a diagnosis of osteoarthritis and knew that surgery would most likely be the result. I waited until I heard someone recommend a doctor. We recently had joined a gym. On 2 days about a week apart without requesting it I received 2 recommendations from 2 different women for a knee surgeon who works out of a large orthopedic practice. That was the green light I needed and I made my appointment. So many chairs made today do not have the support a patient needs after knee surgery. Both of the two chairs provide what I need. In our tri-level house I now have a recliner on the two bottom levels.
We had a rug we liked but as the surgery date approached I wondered about keeping it. The rug had developed ripples along the edges and I had caught my foot on it many times. I had grown used to a rug in the living room and then I remembered my mother's rug. It was a high quality rug bought over 50 years ago for my grandmother. I knew the family who bought the house did not want the rugs and so I brought the rug home. The edges laid as flat in my house as they had done all those years in Salisbury. I am the third generation to be blessed by this well made rug.
Two chairs and a a rug, all items purchased many years ago when I was still a child were just what I needed as I prepared for surgery. No shopping trips and no extra money were needed to add these to our home at the right time. God's grace is revealed every day in a multitude of ways.
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