We were married in April, 1979. Our first home was a rental, fully furnished, and it was a very old house. The structure itself was put together with wooden pegs. Since the second story was, by our standards, unfinished, the pegs were easy to see. The house sat on eighty acres and we both enjoyed that first Spring and Summer. Then, when cooler weather arrived the lack of proper insulation became very obvious. It was time to relocate to a place that would be easy to heat. Our first move also had us furniture shopping for the first time.

We bought a living room suite, which has long been gone the way of old furniture. We also bought a solid wood bedroom suite which we still use even forty plus years later.

While shopping that day for furniture I came across a chair. Sold wood, lovely finish and it seemed to call to me. I wandered over and sat down. That was it. I was in love with this chair and it was going home with me. The rockers were scuffed on the bottom as it was actually considered “used”. The tiny wear marks on the very bottom were all I could find as far as any damage and yet the price was well below what was being asked for the brand spanking new one that was sitting beside it. That was the best $80 we ever spent.

I planned to rock my babies in that chair whenever they came and, Lord willing, I’d rock my grandchildren. I DID rock my two boys in the chair but I never had the opportunity to rock the grandkids.

There was a moment in time when I thought I might loose the chair. One of my boys decided, for some strange reason, to stick his head THROUGH the back of the chair. He got his head stuck and I just knew the chair would have to be sacrificed to save my child’s noggin’. Thankfully, my husband and my brother worked together to get the child and the chair separated.

The chair shows the scratches and wear of over forty years of love and use. I plan to keep it as long as possible.

My boys are both grown and even the grandkids are growing fast. The youngest just turned eight. Each grandchild has grown well beyond the age of being rocked. Somehow, I don’t think Cricket would tolerate it. (grin)

Until next time, take a moment to slow down. If you can’t take a nap, take a deep breath and let it out slowly. If you have access to a rocking chair, put yourself in ‘time out’ for five minutes; you won’t regret it.