"I Am Submerged In Armchair Leisure"

So I had this old recliner. It was one of a pair my parents bought about twenty years ago. Lazy Boy, so they're good chairs, y'know? For several years my parents were the only people allowed to sit in the recliners, mostly because my siblings and I (at the tender ages of under 10) would probably have torn them up, fought on and over them, etc. (hell, I was only recently allowed to sit on the furniture at home anyway). When my parents finally bought new chairs, the two recliners were separated--one went to my grandparents, and it essentially became my great-grandfather's (he was living with them at the time) chair. The other went went to the TV room that my brothers and I reigned over upstairs. We had our own couch and a chair, so there was room enough for all three of us.

When we moved a few years back, the TV room recliner went with us and ended up in my youngest brother's bedroom. Scott kept it for a year or so, until I moved into my apartment here in Norman. The chair came with me, and Scott got a new chair all his own that wasn't nearly as comfortable (he's still annoyed with me for having stolen his chair).

By this time, though, the chair was starting to show its age. It was rather worn, the cushioning was sagging in a couple of places, and the back of the chair was starting to have trouble. Well, at one point over the last semester or so, the back began to give out on one side almost entirely. There were two positions for the chair--fully upright, or fully reclined. Anywhere in between was going to be lopsided. About a week ago, the chair finally died at the ripe old age of about 20.

Anyway, to the point of the story--I was without a recliner. I still had my loveseat, but that's not much seating for when I have company, and I like having a recliner. I happened to mention the dilapidated state of my chair to my grandparents while I was at their house over the weekend. My grandmother's reply was, "Well, why don't you take your grandfather's old recliner?"

I should qualify what my grandmother means by "old recliner." The thing is only a few years old, as far as I can tell, and it's leather. It's beautiful. It's in perfect condition, it's comfortable to sit in, and I could never afford to purchase such a chair myself. And my grandparents want to just give it to me.

I tried to resist, I really did. I said I'd feel bad taking the chair he always sat in. I said I'd be fine without a recliner. I tried, really. And my grandmother wouldn't have it. She said they had more furniture than they really had room, and they had another chair they were wanting to move into the living room anyway. She said she knew I'd put it to good use, and that this way I could save my money and not have to try to buy a chair.

Long story short, my grandmother is a stubborn and persuasive woman, and I brought a new recliner home over the weekend.

And damn if it isn't one of the most comfortable chairs ever. My grandparents are spoiling me, I swear.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Moxy Früvous, "The Lazy Boy"