Re-defining Home ” Valuables”

” If This Old Sofa Could Talk”…

Dear Reader:

I think any of my friends and family who drop by for a visit…associate me ( if indoors) with one particular piece of furniture… my ” miniature recliner.” I remember Brooke went with me to get it and I told them I needed a small recliner that could fit between two sofas. It was a small Lazy Boy… only one they had. Sold!!!

Brooke and I lugged it from the car and plopped it down between the two sofas and it has been there ever since…over two decades.

You can’t tell as much from the photo but my recliner ( today) could have been used for the recliner in the sit-com, Frazier, for Frazier’s dad’s recliner ( with a couple of strips of duct tape!) And like Frazier’s dad… I love it because of all the memories ” rocked” there-each of my grandchildren as babies, toddlers and even now we squeeze in for a picture…

Adjacent is my other beloved piece of furniture-my most favorite-purchased soon after the recliner… I love it because the cream color sofa looks light and bright and it is higher than most sofas-so I can lay down and watch television over the coffee table decors. I can add any colors pillows, quilts and seasonal throws. However today… the years have taken its toll …ink stains, spill stains, torn fabrics all hidden under pillows and throws. It’s days are soon coming to an end.

It is where guests sit and some of the best conversations in my life have taken place here…among friends and family producing so many memories…

In the latest Azalea Magazine issue… under Life and Faith… Diana Thompson decided her most ” valuable piece of furniture” was her kitchen table. Again it had nothing to do with physical characteristics or monetary value ( it had neither) but it too had something better-” scars.”

She remembers the youngest baby making a mess throwing food and trying to feed himself, pounding his fork into the wood, homework being completed, youth from the church gathering, craft projects for school, birthdays and candles being blown out, grandparents laughing with grandchildren playing board games,etc.

She considers their kitchen table sacred-in holy ground… a place where God moves and shows up, because He’s the one who’s brought us here. I feel the same way about my recliner and sofa-a place to commune.

So until tomorrow…” Where are your ordinary but sacred spaces? Have you taken the time to identify them? More importantly, have you taken the time to create them?

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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4 Responses to Re-defining Home ” Valuables”

  1. Rachel Edwards says:

    We have had a lot of conversations with me sitting on that couch and you sitting in your recliner. Your whole house is a happy and secure place.. both sides of it and the deck…we have shared sacred moments in all of these places…and my car too…still remember bringing your bday dinner and we celebrated on your deck and the time we got ice cream and sang our hearts out with Carol King’s CD “Beautiful”…these are just a few of my favorite times and places spent with you…❤

  2. Becky Dingle says:

    Stay dry and happy – filled with fun memories- a good day to relax and remember.

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