The Bonding Couch

While I was dancing around on Bond's Big Leather Couch. I thought about the big ugly couch we had in the den while I was growing up. Our den was long and narrow so the couch had to be custom made. It was a long L-shaped affair, with two people able to sit comfortably in the shorter "L" portion, which faced the TV. That left a whole crew seated facing to the right to see the TV.

The first I remember of the ugly couch was in junior high school with a bunch of silly, giggly girls being silly and giggly watching American Bandstand. It was tan naugahyde in it's first incarnation, sticky in the summer and cold in the winter. I remember wearing shorts and having to peel my legs off of it in the summer. It provided a lot of noises for my younger brother to accuse me of making.

I introduced several beaus to my parents sitting on the big ugly couch. In high school, my husband-to-be and I stole kisses on that couch, hoping we wouldn't get caught! Later, I brought my first born home and lovingly laid her on the couch. She would be the first of three to be placed lovingly there for the grandparents and great-grandmothers to welcome into the family. My last child never got to know my dad. The old couch outlasted him.

Then came my children's beaus. They all got to go through the family welcoming committee on the old ugly couch. Then the grandchildren came to be placed on the couch along with my brother and sister-in-law's children. My mother finally had the old couch reupholstered, replacing the patches and duct tape. It was done in green leather and meant to last another 40 years. It wasn't quite as ugly any more but it was still big!

As we all struggled to watch a movie, it became a tangle of legs and arms and stiff necks. Still, there were many memories made on that old couch. Brothers and sisters scrapping and fighting, cousins wrestling and playing; lovers stealing a kiss or two; whispers and secrets were shared, laughter was loud and raucous; dogs, and over the years, a cat or two getting into the fray.

It saw almost as many Christmases as I have. It cushioned many that have gone on before us. It witnessed sorrow and caught our tears in its folds. It witnessed birthdays and family gatherings for many a year. But finally, it was decided that the ugly old couch had to go. It had served its purpose and the room was going to be redone into a dining area.

We will always remember the ugly old couch. It held us in it's comfort - and helped us bond one to another, and after all, that what a couch does best!