Mom put her house up for sale "officially" this week.
I sent the link of her listing to some of my girlfriends so they could check out the beautiful interiors. And something really hit me hard. It's funny how one thing can really bring another to the forefront.
Over the last week in talking with Mom she has mentioned that it will be more difficult than she thought to move out of the house "Up on B" Road and into another. It wasn't the "physically" moving that she meant. It was uncharted territory once again...without Dad.
Yesterday afternoon I found myself in a total puddle of tears here at my computer reminiscing about all the wonderful memories on B Road. I think it all started when I got a note back from Lisa saying how much she liked it....and my response was something like "I wish you could see Dad's perennial flower beds and HUGE vegetable garden that he and Mom cultivated together."
It is a possibility the next time we go home we will not be staying "Up on B" and this is very sad.
Mom and Dad moved out to this house the same year I moved to Missoula. I remember receiving a couple videos of the progress and updates they did on the place that fall they first moved in...bumped out the kitchen to make it a little larger and made an alcove for the refrigerator and stove, remodeled the upstairs completely ~ making three bedrooms and a bathroom, updating all the electrical, etc. Mind you, they did this all themselves! Only occasionally getting help from my brothers if they happened to be home for a visit.
It's unanimous - we all agree it is the best thing to do (to sell) but the thought of having memories in a whole new place seems difficult. The upkeep of an 1840s Farmhouse with all the money you can pour into old barns that are succumbing to Mother Nature is overwhelming for one person. But, as we all 'got over' the sale of 69 Court Street (where we grew up) eventually ~ we'll all get through this.
I hope whoever buys this sweet little farmhouse knows what they are getting.
Family Photo, June 1999 - While we were all home for our cousin Eleanore's wedding.
Dad (Sept 2003) proudly holding his late-blooming Stargazers we gave he and Mom from our wedding. They still bloom every year, and Mom intends to take the bulbs with her to the new house...
Down in the garden weeding, where you could find Dad on any given afternoon/evening throughout the summer and fall. With a big smile on his face.
All of us in Mom's "Danish" Kitchen....being tortured by Mom's and Elizabeth's photo shenanigans.
Weed whacking and adding to the burn pile.
David, Mom, Frank, Dad - in front of one of the many old barns on the property. It has since been 'lifted up' and saved from Mother Nature (atleast for the time being).
The huge garden with the pole barn in the background.
Dad papering the upstairs.
It looks like Dad was home for for dinner (folks that's 'lunch' for those who don't speak "county") break from work.
They look like geysers - but they are burning leaf piles in the back yard. Can't ya just smell it?
Giving Genevieve and David a tour of the side hill perennial garden.
This is a photo of 69 Court Street - the house we grew up in....We go past it several times during any visit home, even now.
1 comment:
it's hard to let go of things that helped to create us.
Parents are special people. Their existence is a permanent reflection of who we have become, and their absence is impossible to fill. I miss my father every day. Life will never be the same without him.
Just think, you're about to have the same impression on that little creature inside of you! How exciting!
Post a Comment