Last weekend, Scott and I did something that was long overdue. We bought new living room furniture. It had been 16 years since we purchased new furniture. We bought our old comfy sectional in 1993. Once a deep mauve, (mauve is just a less girly way of saying pink), our sectional provided years of comfort, relaxation, and fun memories for us and our children. With recliners on either end, Scott enjoyed many a football, basketball, and baseball games in the arms of the big pink comfy sectional. Our big comfy pink sectional was the rock of our family life - our staple. We spent many a family movie night in the cushy clutches of that sectional. It had plenty of space to spare for our family of 5. Even the dogs and cats had a place on the big pink sectional. It also did double duty as indoor playground equipment for all three of our children. They would play for hours in the living room climbing over the back of the couch and using the recliners as slides. Maybe that's why the recliners broke after only a few years. For our children our sectional has been everything to them - a fort, a ship, a treehouse, a spaceship, a fighter plane, a sniper's post, and much much more. They and their friends loved to play on and around our sectional. It was perfect for hide and seek or wargames for that matter. Our youngest son, Michael, at the tender age of 2, hid all of the remotes in the loose fabric of the recliner's foot rest. We went for a couple of months without knowing where any of the 5 remotes were. He learned early that he who controlled the remote controlled the roost. So he hid them from everyone. The only way we discovered his secret was we saw his little diapered self open the recliner, pull out a remote, turn on the TV, then put the remote back into his secret hiding place, and close the recliner. Clever little guy!
When one of the children was sick, our sectional perfectly served as a home hospital bed, with the sick child sleeping on one end during the night and me on the other. Brittany and I spent many a nights on that sectional when she was only 3. She was so sick with her asthma and secondary infections we thought we were going to lose our dear precious daughter. I just remember a whole month of her sick, on that sectional, not able to keep down even water. Our once chubby little angel became waifer thin. The doctors really didn't know what was happening to her. She was on daily doctor appointments to watch her dehydration and nutritional intake - which was mostly outtake! She got to the point that she couldn't even keep down water! After trying about every drug on the market, her doctor prescribed one last medication. His words to us were if that didn't work, by the next morning she'd have to be hospitalized until they could figure out what was wrong with her. If not, she could die. Frantically, I searched every drug store in our area to find that drug. It turns out it was not a commonly carried prescription. After finding it at a drug store in Milton, I returned home with our last hope, the miracle drug that we prayed would cure our little girl... and McDonald's for dinner for the rest of the family. As I came into the house, McDonald's & mirical drug in hand, our sick little girl on the sectional popped up and asked for a McDonald's French Fry. I gave it to her, thinking that she wouldn't be able to keep it down. After all, she hadn't been able to eat any solid food without throwing up in a month! However, that French Fry stayed down. She asked for more and I obliged. She had a French Fry frenzy on that sectional and kept down every single one. Forget the no food on the couch rule! My child was eating and keeping it down! After that, our little girl began to heal. I attribute her miraculous cure to McDonald's French Fries - she never took that medicine!
But I drift...especially on that big comfy sectional. It was the most wonderful place to take an afternoon nap! Your body would just melt into it's cushiny softness. Once down, you were assimilated. Resistance was futile! Before you knew it, you were a goner - a member of the collective!
Our sectional even served as protection for our family. In 1995, we we turned our sectional and huddled under it's steel frame during a hurricane that sent a tornado through our yard. It took down my favorite tree which was just outside the kitchen window. All of us were safely tucked away under our protector, all of us, that is, except for Scott. He was standing at the front door, with it open, looking at the sky! Yes, my husband, the storm chaser! Jim Cantore has nothing on my man! Ahhhh, those were the days.
But like everything else, the big pink comfy sectional's time came to an end. Alas, it could not hold up to the demands a growing family placed upon it. When it was originally purchased, 'mauve' was 'in.' Sadly, that ship sailed a long time ago...like the minute we bought it! Once mauve was 'out,' we were left with a functional, yet comical reminder of past decorating faupaux. Though durable, it's tough, stain resistance, lifetime warrantied exterior began to degrade. It was literally busting at the seams! It was so bad that I bought designer pillows and matching afgan to try to disguise the flaws. I was embarrassed for anyone to come over to our home. Not only was the color of our sectional way past the expiration date, but now I was leary of anyone sitting on it and discovering our true shame, that it was full of holes, rips, and tears! It was so bad that I completely quit having company over! It was truly HORRIBLE!!! You want to know how bad it was? It was so bad that when Scott tried to donate it to Benevolence, they REJECTED IT!!! Oh the shame!
Finally, I could no longer stand the degradation of our beloved sectional. We determined that this was the time for new furniture. So, last Friday afternoon we did just that. The first thing we were shown was a BIG RED SECTIONAL!!! NOOO!!!!! Scott and I ran just as far away from that deal as quick as we could! But, we found the new love of our lives and our BIG PINK COMFY SECTIONAL is now a memory.
So here's to you, BIG PINK COMFY SECTIONAL, I shall miss the memories, the comfort, and the naps that your big pinkness so lovingly gave our family. But now, a new chapter has begun in our lives...on our TAN LEATHER COUCH with RECLINING SEATS! AHHH... I think I can get used to this! Oh, we got the separate recliner to match! Thank you, God! We really needed this!
In His Love, Cathy
