a chair for my aunt (m)

Aunt Y is slipping.  Probably early dementia.  She forgets alot and has to be reminded sometimes that her husband died (2 years ago).  It's like Drew Barrymore's character in "50 First Dates." Physically, she is riddled with arthritis and has great difficulty walking.  Loading her into an SUV is a 2-person job.  At home, she sits for hours watching television and can't seem to work the remote control.  She has royally screwed up the screen.  For example, when watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire, one can only see the first line of possible answers.  The second row is off-screen.  Cousin Patty's son, J, went over to figure out the problem and said she was "at least 7 menus deep" into re-programming her television.  She must have been pressing buttons for hours, trying to figure out the stations.

This winter has been especially harsh.  With the bitter cold and heavy snow and ice, none of us dared take her out for a Sunday drive.  Instead, we make food and visit her throughout the week.  Neither she nor Aunt Y have children (Aunt X's only pregnancy ended in a stillborn, full-term baby).  The nieces and nephews all pitch in to help.

The biggest opportunity for a lifestyle improvement is a more comfortable chair.  Patty took her to Jordan's Furniture on the one nice day in February,  but she was overwhelmed by the choices and the salespeople.  She left the store saying her old chair--a small, wing chair--was "fine for now."

In one of life's small but great coincidences, I happened to mention this chair situation to my dear friend, Susan, who mentioned her mother had a brand new La-Z-Boy in her home and wanted to get rid of it.  It was given to Susan's father when he was sick, but he never used it. Susan talked to her mother who said my aunt could have the chair.  Susan's mother would not accept a penny for the chair.  It retails for about $1,000.

If you tell my aunts something is free, they will take it.  Sight unseen. 

So, we delivered the chair to Aunt X.  The chair is beautiful.  A dusty pink color which, serendipitously, blends in with the decor of her den.  The chair is powered so that when you press Down, it reclines and the foot rest comes up.  When you press Up, it lifts you to a standing position!  We had her practice this over and over.  Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down.  She LOVES this chair.  I've never seen her so excited about something.

Once we determined that the chair was going to work, we adjusted the furniture around the chair.  I moved the side table and lamp and cordless phone.  As I was bending over to plug in the lamp and phone, I hear Aunt Y exclaim.  "Hey, M!  Where'd all the fat go?  You've lost alot of weight!"

You know, I could stand to hear that once a week.