As I walked into my grandpa's house a huge lump was in my throat. I didn't know how I was going to react. I expected tears. As I walked in I saw a man in the chair my grandpa was often sitting in. His belly was big, his arm thick and tan and on the table was a cup of coffee. For a moment, I thought 'GRANDPA!' But quickly came back to real life when i realized it was my uncle sitting there. What it did to my heart though was something i hadn't felt before. I yearned to see him again sitting in that chair. I wanted to go through and snap a picture of every room to try to capture every memory. So here are a few.
This kitchen is not the one i grew up having cocoa and toast in but I grew to love it just the same. This is always where grandma was busily working to make us breakfast when we came to visit. And in later years, where grandpa so tirelessly fixed meals for grandma when she was too sick to do so herself. I remember always helping set the table. Grandmas silverware was so shiny. And heavy. And pretty. I was scared to death of breaking any of her dishes so i was always extra careful. The dust buster vacuum was stored in the kitchen and so were the uno cards and parcheesey game. It was always exciting to get to use the little vacuum or finish the chores so we could play a game. The smell of spearmint gum always came from the drawer by the fridge. I'm sure i was guilty of grabbing a tic tac or gum out of that drawer a time or two. Her fridge always had yummy food and her freezer always held ice cream. Cocoa and toast or letter pancakes were a favorite in here.
This room at the top of the stairs is where i usually stayed. It was hot. I was always trying to open a window to cool off and getting up to peek out and see if cousins or anyone else had arrived at grandmas yet. Especially on holidays. I scoured her book shelf and often spent hours reading up here. I loved the little heater on the floor and i sat by it often to warm up and look at the little treasures in the jewelry box on the floor.
My parents usually slept here when we were there but I loved again snooping in all the little drawers and looking at grandmas treasures.
The play cupboard made by grandpa Hancock that all of us played with and loved.
These stairs. I can't tell you how many nights i sat here listening to parents talk trying not to get caught. And every morning i walked down the stairs I could smell breakfast cooking and looked forward to a hug from my grandma at the bottom of them. Often there were so many people there that people had to sit on the stairs while they ate. And that chair at the bottom was grandmas chair where she always sat.
This was a new bedroom as part of the add on. Not many memories of it except sitting with my cousins and aunts while we divided up grandmas treasures. That was a special day. And her lovely bed frame! I always rubbed the round balls on each post. They used to have a water bed and it was the best toy in the house.
These stairs always scared me. They are steep and slick. But perfect for sliding down in a sleeping bag. They are the same stairs my dad fell down holing my new born baby brother. Despite their dangers, it didn't stop us from running up and down them constantly as kids.
A blurry basement carpet picture to you but so so much more to me. Here is where we had countless thanksgiving, christmas, and birthday dinners. Until we didn't fit anymore. Here is where we had many cousin sleepovers where the whole floor was covered with kids. Here we played little people and hobey horse. Here was the original house they lived in for years before building up, adding the rest of the house.
This room was always the mystery room. Filled with guns, poetry books and hunting gear and hats. It was off limits to us mostly but it didn't stop us from peeking in every now and then.
THIS! I cant tell you how many talent shows were put on in this kitchen. I remember wearing roller skates and making our parents sit and watch hours of silly jokes, tricks, songs and acts with my cousins. Many many pounds of sausage and pasta were made here and often seen strung on a string from wall to wall with pasta.
You always got the best feeling walking into this room. I'd be greeted by a "Hi Candi" and a big hug and smile. Sometimes it was dolly or baby but mostly Candi. He is one of the few who could get away with it and I liked the sound of. The pictures of each of their grandkids hung proudly above the fire place and it was always fun to see who had updated their pictures. The curio cabinet in the corner held all of their treasures from traveling and it was so fun to carefully peek at them and look at all their things. The carpet was soft and padded. One I looked forward to stretching out on. This is where our games were played with grandma and where many meals were eaten later on when our family was too big to go downstairs. This is also where at a thanksgiving dinner i was given a $100 bill from my great grandma's estate and was picked from the grandkids as the one who served her best and given a beautiful picture of her. I LOVE THIS ROOM.
The grandfather clock was another favorite. I remember laying here for sleepovers sometimes and counting the chimes and learning to love it.
The back yard is a special place too. My earliest memories include picking worms in the yard and coming out to see Snowflake his white horse. We played croquet on the lawn and had a few BBQ's. When i was in college I came down once a week to mow lawn. It was a chore at first but I grew to love my time there on his perfectly green fluffy grass.
The playhouse. We spent hours out here in the summer. Feeding the horse through the window and helping grandma clean it out. The toys in there were treasures to me and so fun to play with. There was a doll bed that i dressed my brother up as a girl and tried to squish him in there. There was a tiny cupboard full of perfect little dishes. A fun horse to ride, croquet and other fun things. It was sad to see it so run down in their later years but it healed my heart a little to see someone purchase it to fix up at the estate sale.
It's hard to see the house getting ready to sell because it feels like my memories of it will fade. So I'm glad i have pictures and somewhere to write them down to try to hang on to them. I'm so spoiled to have had grandparents who loved us so much and created wonderful memories for us as we grew. I know they loved us and i can only hope to be as wonderful to my kids and grandkids as they were to us.
