Labor Day morning finds us both sitting in our easy chairs side by side (well, an end table between) in the living room.  He, on the laptop reading the morning news, me sitting on a heating pad to hopefully ease the pain in my back, watching Live with Kelly on TV…both, with a cup of coffee in hand.

How very like old people we seem, comfortably sitting and whiling away time.

(Oh, wait a minute, we are old!)

Magazines I’ve read or TV programs I have watched (think Leave It to Beaver or Father Knows Best – back in the day ) have depicted such scenes showing a couple sitting next to one another, the woman perhaps knitting while the man reads the paper or watches TV.  Seems so very nostalgic to me – harkening back to slower-paced days when people took time to sit down and relax.  (Did that really happen long ago, by the way, – or is it just a fantasy and really, most people have never relaxed?)

As a younger person, I never imagined myself in this homey type picture…I was always too busy “doing” something.  However, I’m happy to report now, RC and I can usually be found in our chairs (always the same one for each of us) at one time or another each day; and, it is one of the many joys I have in my life.  I’m grateful we are getting old together and though we are usually engaged in separate activities as we sit, we are together.  I guess that is known as companionship.

I am now content and comfortable just sitting and being.  Yes, as I sit, I am usually engaged in reading, working on a crossword puzzle, or messing with my tablet.  But, in times past, I found it very difficult to sit and do something enjoyable rather than be involved in constantly moving about working at completing some kind of chore…you know, household drudgery type activities like washing dishes, vacuuming, tending to the laundry or the like.  (RC, on the other hand, has always known how to relax – many times, much to my annoyance when I wanted his help with one of my chores “right now”.)

I’m guessing that this newfound ability to while away time is a natural happening as one ages.  Retirement and having more discretionary time available certainly helps the cause.  Anyone reading this that is still raising children and/or holding a full-time job likely will not be able to relate…(let alone, be familiar with the TV programs I mentioned above).  I get that – been there, done that.  But, I’m here to tell you relaxing now and then is a good thing.  It IS all it is cracked up to be!  I encourage you to find a comfortable chair in your home and strive to just sit there and do something for fun when you can.

And, if you are lucky enough to share your life with a significant other, I hope you too will enjoy moments of companionship sitting side by side in your easy chairs.