Friday's Finest is a new meme hosted by Steff & Justine from A Bookful of Thoughts.
Rules:
~Post a quote that really stuck to you after reading it in a book.
~Make sure it isn't a spoiler!
~If you'd like, expand on what you think it means and why you chose it.
"Now, the old sofa was a regular patriarch of a sofa -- long, broad, well-cushioned, and low; a trifle shabby, as well it might be, for the girls had slept and sprawled on it as babies, fished over the back, rode on the arms, and had menageries under it as children, and rested tired heads, dreamed dreams, and listened to tender talk on it as young women. They all loved it, for it was a family refuge, and on corner had always been Jo's favorite lounging-place." -- Little Women
I found my twenty-something-year-old copy of this book tucked away in a blanket chest at my parents' house during my visit last weekend, and reread all 561 pages. I'm not sure whether I loved it properly as a girl, but as a mother, who hopes for my children to always find home a place of roots and wings, I loved it all the more. The "little women" aren't angels (well, perhaps except for Beth), but real girls who struggle to reconcile their desire to break out of relative poverty into a more affluent existence with the real contentment of their simple life.
Do you have a piece of furniture in your childhood home like that? Do you have one now that's helping your children build memories? My parents still own the armchair that we refer to as "Peter's chair," for the way my brother would stumble down against his will every morning and before joining us at the breakfast table, take a few minutes in the armchair to make himself fully human again.
Just like my son now does, nestled in our own red armchair, morning by morning ...
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5 comments:
Little Women is one of my favorite books. I used to dream of having a bunch of sisters. Looks like 30 years later I'm going to be blessed with a little sister and I think 2 daughters of my own.
I can't think of any furniture that survived my family life,fitting.
I'm hoping my plush glider will be our family's reminder of all of the hours breastfeeding and reading together.
I have a green plaid chair we bought before any of our kids were born. I've nursed all my babies it, read many a book curled up in it, and find it to be more comfortable on my sensitive tailbone (thanks to my first born) than any other chair. Ever.
My kids clearly love it as well - it is angled in front of a corner and creates a great hidey-hole for reading, the cushions are misshapen and tearing apart at the seams from forts, and the lining beneath the seat cushion is ripping out as well.
I still refuse to part with it.
Thanks for taking part in this meme!
I've heard of Little Women, but never got around to read it.
And what a great quote. Well described. I can almost picture it.
To answer your question, I don't have a piece of furniture like that. Maybe it's because we grew up in some other country and moved here when we were bigger. Though I do wish we have one. It's nice to own something full of memories. :)
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