text: “Molly’s Rocking Chair” Molly Stanley tied her little boy to the rocking chair. Theodore was a runner and she didn’t want him getting to the railroad tracks. As her only child he was a precious thing if there ever was one. So Theodore sat tied to that chair and he rocked. He rocked and he giggled, dreaming of running off to places his tiny mind couldn’t realistically conjure up. Theodore then proceeded to do what everyone does if they are lucky, he grew. But grow as he may have, the rocking chair remained a constant friend. He sat there at night as he read by the fire, he sat there after school and contemplated the cruelties of little children and he sat there and rocked pensively as his mother slowly died just after his 18th birthday. Molly’s shadow would linger over him each time he sat in the chair for the rest of his days. In the midst of his grief Theodore found love. Anna Lee stole his heart and repaired so completely that it astounded him. She took his name and they cemented their love. The child arrived the same week he got a letter from the president inviting him on an all-expenses paid vacation overseas in exchange for some light work. He cradled his little Josephine and shed a single tear for the time he’d lose as he read the letter and rocked. Theodore got a strange surprise as he began his service, this work made sense to him. Something about the sameness of routine just felt right. He was slightly shaken when he saw combat, but he found he could adjust. He rose steadily through the military ranks and saw parts of the world he’d only read of in books. He would come home on leave to Anna Lee and bounce Josephine on his knee as he rocked in the comfort of his chair and marveled at the brisk passage of time. He’d sit there and think about the distant lovers he’d had that he’d never speak of again and tried to push the guilt down beneath his feet as if he could walk on it. As naturally as Theodore took to military life, war finds a way to take its toll on everyone. For him it was the unfortunate presence of a landmine where his jeep happened to be driving. As these things go, Theodore was lucky. His life and limbs were mostly spared, both legs broken and one hand so damaged it would never be quite right again but he’d escaped with his life and could only be grateful. The recovery was difficult and lonely. The only comfort was letters from home. Anna Lee wrote of Josephine’s progress in school and funny things she’d said at bedtime. There were no passionate declarations of love or longing, making him wonder if she was suspicious of something, but he knew they would never discuss it. At long last his injuries had healed and his military days were over. He emerged from his long absence a slightly different man, old friends remarked how the wanderlust that had characterized his youth had all but vanished. It was replaced by a simple desire to remain in one place and be near his family. He would spend his days running a small grocery store and his nights in the rocking chair reading novel after novel and nursing a large cup of black coffee that somehow never managed to disrupt his sleep. The years went by and things didn’t change much. Theodore’s hair turned grey and Josephine married and had six kids of her own. The store served him well enough until he couldn’t ignore retirement anymore. More free time meant a great deal more time in the rocking chair, reflecting on choices and wondering if there was anything worth changing if such a thing were possible. He would watch baseball games and try to interest Anna Lee in the finer points of the sport but she mostly ignored him. Anna Lee stayed by his side even as arguments became a regular feature of their marriage. She found something to fight with him about almost daily. The pangs of guilt he hadn’t managed to suppress told him he deserved it. Somewhere in the neighborhood of his mid-seventies Theodore’s health began to fail him. He still held court from his rocking chair but his voice was weakening and he could no longer bounce the great grandchildren on his knee. He rocked back and forth reflecting on the life he’d lived, he considered himself very lucky and thanked whatever force happened to be in charge for his good fortune. He had hoped to die in the rocking chair but his body didn’t afford him that luxury. Instead he died in a hospital, though by the end his mind was foggy enough he believed he was in the chair anyway, tied to it again with Mother Molly by his side. Theodore’s family grieved for him full heartedly for a long time, but grief like every feeling dulls with time and eventually it was time to decide what was to become of his possessions. The only one anyone seemed to care about was the rocking chair. Anna Lee for her part couldn’t bear to see it sit empty, let alone to sit in it herself. So it passed to Josephine. She gave it a place of honor in her home and told each visitor how it was Daddy’s favorite chair and how great Grandma Molly would tie him to it to keep him from running away. The chair held up remarkably well through the years as it endured children rocking in it too hard and spilled drinks. It also continued its longtime function as a place of reflection. Josephine’s grandson sat in it the night his grandfather died and vowed to remember the rhythm of the chair and the feeling of despair forever. He would sit in it again as an adult and try to imagine the kind of man his great grandfather was as the memories of those who knew him evolved into myth. Josephine told him that if that rocking chair could somehow find a way to talk it could probably tell more about Theodore than anyone. If only.