Friday, May 7, 2021

Goodbye Old Brown Furniture

This sweet little rocking chair was handmade
by my grandfather Paul for my mother Mary
when she was a toddler.

As it has survived
~ somewhat the worse for wear, yet succesfully! ~
into the 21st Century,
Gerry plans to refurbish it
for continued everyday use
by our little grand-daughter Eleanor!

I know it has become hugely popular to say, "Your kids don't want your old brown furniture," and not only among the down-sizing sensationalists who coined the phrase. Even AARP, Forbes, Kiplinger, and The Wall Street Journal have jumped on the bandwagon. Surely I'm not the only one out there for whom this tiresome cliche -- right up there with the pejorative "Karen" and "Okay Boomer" -- doesn't ring quite true.

Okay, Baby Boomers are always an easy target, but it's not exactly clear to me in this case whether they are supposed to be the inheritors or the distributors of all this cumbersome, undesirable treasure. Perhaps both?

While not expecting my adult children to delight in my household furnishings, looking back the other way, I actually have a soft spot for the interior decor of my dearly departed parents and grandparents. However unpopular the old - era dressers and headboards may have become, their charm will never be lost on me.

Hopefully, Ellie and Aidan will continue to see the charm in the little rocking chair -- built by their Great - great - grandfather Paul and rebuilt by their Grandfather Gerry.

A Visual Ode
~ much missed and beloved old brown furniture ~
To be continued . . .

3 comments:

  1. I love the chairs whose back has a heart-shaped cutout. None of my sooden chairs match, and each one has a history that I cherish.
    --

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  2. https://www.phillymag.com/news/2021/09/25/stuff-after-you-die

    Good article. I've read several along these lines, and this is one of the best.

    For my parents’ house, my sibs and I had a huge 3-day bonfire, 3 large dumpsters, and a take-away crew from some kind of re-sell place. A few treasured items or things we felt confused about went into storage. Two years later, we reviewed the storage and sent most of it to the dumpster as well.

    There were a few moments of shared nostalgia, but for the most part it was very painful. Worst of all was the take-away firm. However stressful it was to deal with the task ourselves, it was devastating to have someone else go at it.

    The biggest lesson we learned: DO NOT do this to your children!

    ReplyDelete
  3. https://kittislist.blogspot.com/2018/06/dostadning-long-live-swedish-death.html

    ReplyDelete