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New sofas collect memories too

There comes a time in every family’s life when a decision has to be made on whether to keep the old sofa or buy a new one. A new sofa is a big expense, so such a decision will not be taken lightly; most people will have tried to make their old one last for as long as possible, even carrying out repairs and, maybe, re-upholstering it. But, one day, it will have to go.

Besides the expense of the new sofa, there is the sadness of disposing of the old one. However tired-looking it has become, it will hold a lot of memories, and these will remain with the family.

In most families, the sofa will have played a key part in family life. Much romantic courting is conducted on sofas, and even marriage is proposed. Parents will have many happy memories of their children on it, and it will no doubt feature in hundreds of photographs so, while the sofa may one day be gone, it can still be remembered through the family photo album.

Naturally, the children won’t just have sat on the sofa on their best behaviour – many a sofa has spent time as an indoor trampoline, or had its cushions removed to make a den in the middle of the room. It will have been stained or damaged during the natural rough-and-tumble of youngsters or pets, and a small fortune in coins may well have got lost in its depths. All this is part and parcel of a well-used and well-loved family sofa; letting go of the old one will be hard, but the sofa that takes its place will collect just as many memories.

Of course, the family sofa won’t just have witnessed the happy times. It may have been where someone sat to receive some sad or worrying news, or it may have doubled up as an extra bed when a family member has been unwell.

When the time comes to part with the sofa-of-memories, it will be the happier ones that it will be remembered for – Christmas with the whole family squashed up on it together, opening their presents, or watching in comfort a much-awaited film on the television, or winter afternoons, when it’s freezing cold outside, snuggled up with loved ones.

Perhaps the fondest memories will be those of the children of the family as they grow through the passing years; a sofa may have been part of a child’s life from birth to adulthood and, even when it is long gone, those memories will still be there.