Growing Older: On Turning 80

On By Lois RoelofsIn aging, faith, God, Health, humor, memoir, retirement, travel, writing

“What are you trying to prove?” my friend asked in a text. I had just sent her a photo of me stuck in my closet. I’d been trying to put a new recliner together and had to get behind it. Since it was somewhat heavy, I shimmied myself behind it into the closet. To see what I had to to see, I had to sit down. Well, then I was wedged in and couldn’t move. So I thought it was funny. Me in AZ stuck in my closet with none of my kids on site and none due to come for over a week. I thought, jokingly, that they would find me desiccated on the floor.

Up until that point, I’d done very well with the chair. I’d scrutinized and analyzed hundreds of recliners online, visited four furniture stores to sit in at least a dozen, and found my prize chair at a fifth store where my young sales gal, when I’d asked for “a skinny recliner that fits in a small space,” led me right to my prize! And it was available right then to take home.

What would you do? If all the chairs you’d already looked at were out-of-stock, back ordered, or were on a 8-12 week delivery schedule?

I know what you’d do. So I did it too. I backed up my SUV into the pick-up bay of this gigantic furniture warehouse and, giggling to myself, said to Marv in my mind, “Honey! Look at me!” I’d never backed up in such a bay in my life.

Well, the box was large, so when I got it home, I used all my brains and brawn to get the chair out of my trunk, onto the garage floor, around the house through the front door, and into the bedroom. I was out of breath and really giggly by the time I arrived on my closet floor.

Yes, indeed. Look at me. Turning 80 and in my own furniture delivery and setup business! Just don’t call me too soon. I don’t think my kids, or my friend, want to hear of any such escapades again from me for a long while.

In the photos below, I invite you to follow me from the pick up bay at the store to my bedroom. All I needed were a few pillows, a dolly, and a beach towel. Note I even managed to back up my SUV into our garage. Another first.

So I’m off to a roaring new start. It has to be all up hill from here!

Signing off from the closet. It’s cozy and comfy in here! I‘m sitting here on my 80th birthday trying to figure out what I’m trying to prove😂. Come on over and brainstorm this aging thing with me!

30 thoughts on “Growing Older: On Turning 80”

  1. Marge Ecker's avatar Marge Ecker

    I will be joining you shortly, just sounds so old, don’t have the energy i once had, time to relax!!

    On Mon, Jan 17, 2022, 9:58 AM Write Along with Me wrote:

    > Lois Roelofs posted: ” “What are you trying to prove?” my friend asked in > a text. I had just sent her a photo of me stuck in my closet. I’d been > trying to put a new recliner together and had to get behind it. Since it > was somewhat heavy, I shimmied myself behind it into the cl” >

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    Reply
  3. Unknown's avatar Anonymous

    I am so very impressed! from the selection, backing up with your vehicle, 2x! and accomplishing the whole project. You earned that time to relax and enjoy that chair!

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  9. Maybe we aren’t trying to prove anything. We are just trying to get what we need until we discover we can’t any more and need to ask for help. Sounds like you had great fun AND have a new recliner in your bedroom. How much better can it get!

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    1. Exactly! I know the day will come when I’ll need to ask for help. Not ready yet! And when my kids and grandkids come to our AZ house, I’ll have a chair (instead of the bed!) to sneak off too if I want peace and quiet.

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  11. I can say “impressive task” now that I know you are not “desiccated” because you have been trapped under a recliner for the past week. Getting older is not for the faint of heart as you prove. Glad it all worked out well in the end. Happy birthday.

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  12. How very impressed I am with your abilities, driving and putting together a flatpack. I cannot deal with flatpacks, they are totally anathema to me. I have to assume that by now you have manage to get yourself out of your closet. And I see in a comment that it was your birthday. So happy belated birthday.

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  16. snurfi's avatar snurfi

    I seldom look at WordPress but opened it up today. “Turning 80” caught my eye as I will turn 80 in a couple weeks. Loved your intrepid recliner episode! And all the pictures too! I can relate. When the timing is right, there seems to be a part of me that says “this will be an adventure—go for it!” May your 80th year be filled with adventure of the richest kind!!!

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      1. snurfi's avatar snurfi

        Shucks, I live in Wisconsin. My youngest sister lives in Maricopa, AZ. I used to visit every late winter—not now. We’ll have to chat online.

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  19. I had a good laugh at this. I do much of my own repair work and a couple years ago put in a new door knob and locked myself out of the house. That was an adventure. Live and learn as they say. Tackling that recliner from store to finished product is quite amazing.

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    1. Funny, but not fun! When we bought the AZ house last year, I was there alone at the transition and the former owners left me all the access keys/fobs to the house on the counter. Then I walked out without them. It was getting dark and my phone battery was almost dead. It’s a fun story about how it took a village to rescue me!

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  21. Pingback: Moving Furniture Again | Write Along with Me

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