Im in Georgia for a few days to see my family and say goodbye to a place that I will always think of as home. My grandparents house will belong to someone else next week. It was the first house I lived in when I came home from the hospital. By the time I was 14, I had lived in at least 8 different houses, but my grandparents home was a constant in my life. I was there every day before school, and back again after school (my elementary school was actually just through the back yard and across the street). I spent my summer vacations on the porch, in the yard, and riding my bike up and down the street. I ate lunch there almost every Sunday, and had 41 Christmas dinners in a row in the kitchen. The house had been home to a wealthy family when it was new, but it had fallen into disrepair and was a real fixer-upper when my grandparents bought it in the early 1960s. My grandfather fixed it up just enough to make it livable. He said if he made it too nice, theyd just raise his taxes (he wasnt wrong). It always seemed like a magical place to me, and I never really noticed how run down it looked until my grandparents were gone and it was empty. There was a time when I thought it would be impossible to lose this house. It was such an important part of my life that I couldnt imagine life without it. When I walked through it for the first time after my grandfather died, I realized that it was okay to let it go. The reason I had loved coming to the house was because my grandparents were there. The house wasnt magical. They were. It seemed likely that someone would probably buy it, tear it down, and build ten houses (or more) on the land. Thats not whats happening, though. Im very, very excited that someone has decided to buy the house and bring it back to life. The kitchen where my grandmother made tens of thousands of bars of peanut brittle will still be someones kitchen. The backyard where my grandfather worked on old cars will still be someones backyard. Theres a great spot for a garden, too (although no garden will ever be as great as the one my grandparents planted). It was good to see it one last time, but strange to see it completely empty. Im glad its going to stick around for a while and that someone else can fill it up again and make great memories.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 13:21:12 +0000
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