Old Rocking Chair

My husband bought a rocking chair a month or so before we got married…about 50 years ago. We moved it with us from Texas to Virginia to Maryland to Missouri. It got a varying amount of use over the years, but I sat in in a lot recently since I positioned it in front of one of the windows in my office. The rocker was perfectly positioned for watching birds at the feeder, talking on the phone, crocheting, and making Zentangle tiles (using a clipboard to provide a hard surface). And then the back separated from one of the arms; it happened while I was rocking…talking on the phone…there was a crack and I stood up quickly to avoid breaking it even more.

My husband had mended the same place within the first year that we had it – putting in a larger screw and gluing the joint. He was going to mend it again but discovered that the screw had broken in half at the joint and he couldn’t remove either piece! We removed the cushions thinking we might reuse them and prepared to carry the rocker upstairs to go out next to the dumpster on the next trash day.

 Both of us feel sad to let it go; it’s a part of our history as a couple. We are frustrated that it can’t be mended and has become trash. We’ve ordered a glide rocker to replace it.