From My IKEA Loveseat
An old friend that has supported her over the years
Most of us have items that we hold dear. They needn’t be expensive, just meaningful. For Boomer reader Karen Czuleger Strgacich, a little IKEA loveseat is her treasure. What’s yours?
From my little IKEA loveseat, I write my articles. As I sit, I redecorate my house. I plan my backyard furniture and plants. I think about my family. I think about my work. I think about my life.
This $350 loveseat will never be given away or sold online. And if it breaks, it will be repaired. This IKEA loveseat has brought me peace, creativity, and a place to physically stop my body from moving and allow my mind to take over as thoughts about everything gently drift in and out.
In the wintertime, it’s a cozy refuge next to a fire as I get stuck into a soul-nourishing book. In the summertime, it’s a place where I throw open the slider doors and listen to the birds and the water fountain outside on the patio while the ocean breezes gently swirl into the room.
This IKEA loveseat has been white, navy blue, and now grey because of my thoughtful redecorations, all plotted out on this little loveseat.
This little IKEA loveseat has supported me during times of worry as I thought through possible solutions to the challenges I faced as a single parent. It has comforted me as I sifted through memories of my parents, my childhood, my marriage, my children, and everything that has touched my life.
This little IKEA loveseat is the place someone always lands on first when I’m in the kitchen talking to them over the bar as we sip our Pinot Grigio while preparing a meal.
This little IKEA loveseat was the first place I landed when I came home from a brief hospital stay for a bleeding ulcer. After lying in a hospital room where you hear IV alarms going off and nurses bustling in the corridors, it was a quiet respite to recover from my health scare and take stock of how my life was being lived. It was there waiting for me.
This little IKEA loveseat is where I greet the day as I watch the sun come up and drink my coffee, scrolling through emails on my phone that came in overnight and plot my impending day at work.
It’s also where you will find my daughter and me at the end of our day as we download the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences we encountered. It is where we talk and listen to each other.
This little IKEA loveseat is like an old friend who is forever loyal, never disappoints, and never stops supporting me.
I hope you too have a special loveseat, chair, or bean bag even, where you can find comfort and just be you! If not, I highly suggest you get one! I’m sure there is an IKEA somewhere near you!
Read more contributions from Boomer readers in our From the Reader department.
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