Dear LPG,  

I live alone but I have a pretty large family.  There is still a brother or two not to mention my five children, although calling them children at this stage might well leave readers with an inaccurate picture of my paternal achievements.   I have sent my message to LPG and consequently, I hope that readers would assume that I am not in the first flush of youth. 

As with many ‘parents’ of my age, I now live alone but I am not lonely.  I am truly lucky because although they are all coupled-up and happy my children (nieces and nephews) all live locally enough to each visit me at least once a week and with three girls amongst the crew I have no need for any type of home help when it comes to keeping my home clean and tidy.   

But as with all aspects of life every advantage comes with its own brand of disadvantages.  My brother and I are part of a band of four male friends who like to end a couple of days per week with a social evening out but, while the others can get out nearly every week night, I am the Cinderella (I mean Cinder-Arthur) of the pack because if it is not one of my children on my phone, I find myself being visited by one of the 4 grandchildren who are now old enough to find their way to grandad’s house by themselves.  They make up one third of the full complement and the also have cousins who managed to alternate between my brother’s house and mine.   

One tells me that he finds solace to do his homework after school when visiting and I have to admit that looking over his shoulder often keeps my mind really active if I can actually understand what I see on his tablet. While one of my granddaughters wants to be a chef and is always plying me with her culinary experiments.  

Having a large family is a blessing and I have to say that I am also blessed because they all get along and agree with each other, even when they don’t agree with me.   

The latest bone of contention is my beloved arm chair.  For the past couple of years, I have heard the comments and hints.  The bringing of the odd brochure which is left when they leave, conveniently open at the page where all the rise-recliner chairs are on display, not to mention the hints and the one they bought for their uncle.  They all believe that my long-standing beloved chair should go and, last Christmas, between them, they bought me a state of the art, all singing, all dancing, chair which they decided should replace it.   

My new acquisition is a beautiful thing but it is also good that my living room is spacious enough to accommodate both bits of furniture because in spite of their insistence, my bottom and that chair were meant for each other.  The new one comes in handy when my brother or one of my friends visit. His family is not as big as mine although he suffers with a degree of niece and nephew interference as do I because he has a favourite chare and a wife to boot giving him the same treatment.  

Seriously, they tell me that they can see how much more challenging it is for me to get out of these days in spite of the linked chair raisers they bought me, but so far I have won the battle to keep it. 

I have said all this because I have a feeling that my story might be a variation on the theme that more than a few other readers can identify with, and I have found a solution that will help those oldies who are finding it increasingly hard to justify keeping such an intrinsically valuable piece of furniture.   

Our answer has been to show them that my sibling and I are not past it yet.  We went on the internet and found a few exercises that have helped us look less likely to make quite so many attempts to get out of our preferred sitting-places and they have also made a difference to the wellbeing of our lower limbs, which is why I felt that it would be a good idea to pass them on.  We started by being closet exercisers and I found it all challenging at first, but the family agree that they are a lot less worried about how we do it these days…  

So, at least for now, my chair stays, holes threadbare patches and all! 

HR, Forest Hill  

 

 

Just in case you do not know what a chair raiser is HR provides an internet introduction…

 

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… and offers some of the exercises that might help you prove that you are well able wit your old armchair…

 

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