Our first plan was to go see my Granny and Papa's home. They are both in heaven, but the home was sold to a couple who are related to us by marriage and the wife was my mom's high school friend. What a joy to know the home is being lived in my someone we love. They were so happy to have us come and visit.
I took Firstborn to the back yard where there was always a huge garden.
I took Firstborn to the back yard where there was always a huge garden.
The house has been remodeled, but it was still so special for me to see it. This is the bedroom where I slept so many nights. I would crack the window and breathe that cool Blue Ridge Mountain air. I still say to this day, I never slept harder than those nights as a kid.
This was my Granny's room.
And the part that changed the least was the basement. It still smelled exactly the same. How many days did this become our stage, with my twin cousins leading the way, as we spent all day making up shows complete with commercials and costumes, to perform for the other pair (one twin with my brother, one with me)?
The barn was exactly the same. I told Firstborn about the trick my brother and cousin played on me where I had to cross some straw to be initiated into a club. The path was actually a hole which went down onto some hay bales. I got them back though. I pretended I'd broken my leg. The boys went into a panic and carried me all the way back to Granny's house, where I promptly hopped up, died laughing and ran off. The house was ever so much smaller than I remembered. I'm sure that's why the grown-ups sent us outside to play all day. And did we ever play! All day, every day. With our imaginations, with our cousins. We came in at dinner time. Then we all curled up into sleeping bags across the living room, like six egg rolls. My cousin reminded me the other day how we would all cry when we knew it was time for a cousin to leave to head back home. I even saw the spot where we would head to Indiana, while they headed to Memphis. We would talk on the cb radio just as long as we could.
The land has changed. It's all grown up. It used to be just rolling fields with giant trees.
We made an interesting find and threw it in the back of the truck. Maybe someone will have a lodge home at some point and need a mantle piece!
It's beautiful country. My daughter has just about decided she wants to settle here!
And this was perhaps my favorite picture she took.
2 comments:
Kathleen loves Virginia and from the time she knew she wanted to be a lawyer, she wanted to be a Virginia lawyer. When she was sworn in, the Justice commented that she was following in the footsteps of Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and so on. I credit Kathleen's love to her father's family who lived just over the state line after West Virginia became a state and on my side her great . . . great grandfather first landed in Virginia before it was a state. It is just in her blood like Mississippi is in mine. We each know where we belong.
Something I found interesting is that in her work Kathleen has come across statutes written by Thomas Jefferson himself. They are still on the books. It is amazing to me that they are still relevant today. Kathleen makes frequent repeat visits to all the historical sites with her favorites being Jamestown, Mount Vernon and James Madison's home. She just drinks it all in. Then she travels to the western side of Virginia and really feels at home. She fell in love with the people on that side of the state. They are warm and friendly but not overly receptive to strangers. They are coal miners and her great grandfather was a coal miner in that area so that is her inroad with them.
What you said about ME liking Virginia made me think of Kathleen. I am a big believer in the fact that each of us knows where we belong. Kathleen loves what she does and she loves doing it in some of the same places great men before her stood and delivered their famous words. I really look for Kathleen to be a judge someday. Just watch and see. It will be fun to see where ME ends up!
Mel
I got so caught up in my daugher's love of Virginia that I neglected to mention what a sweet post this was. My grandparent's house was my favorite place and I slept better there than almost anywhere on earth. Though I do sleep good now, I do not sleep the same as I did at their house and at my dad's house. Talk about sleeping somewhere that you feel loved and safe. I think the difference is I had no responsibility at my grandparent's house and my dad's house. Can we say Heaven?
Thank you again for sharing. These are all special posts.
Melanie
Post a Comment