I remember the first time I saw it, after John rented it. My first thought was that it was smaller than I imagined (he had taken numerous photos to show me, since I didn’t get to see it). But I immediately fell in love with it.
The house had everything that I wanted: A wood-burning fireplace, a laundry room, a formal dining room, and a lovely kitchen that could be a ‘country kitchen’. Additionally, it had a cute back yard with a “deck” and many trees, since it backed to the woods.
We rented it for many years, methodically making changes and improvements, and generally making it home. The door frame between the lower-level family room and the “back” room (laundry/storage/office) has the markings of the girls’ heights through the years. I always said if we ever moved, that door frame would come with me.
There was the year that John decided to update everything from top to bottom for me. He painted all three floors, put ceramic tile in the kitchen, foyer, and master bathroom; made upgrades and/or cosmetic changes to all bathrooms, and installed decorative wood frames on all the windows. He was so proud and I was so grateful.
Oh and the gardens. The beautiful gardens that our one neighbor started on the hill over the fence in our back yards. Each year all six homeowners improve upon the past. I’ve painted wood signs for all trying to honor each one’s native language. It starts with the welcome sign in Korean, then English, Spanish, English again, Greek… So lovely and peaceful, and evolving every year!
Then came the purchase. The house needed a lot of work, but we bought it “as-is” so we could move on. And we continued dreaming of finishing it to our liking… one day.
The house is by no means finished, and as time passes age takes its toll and there are always new things that need fixing or upgrading. But I still love this little house. It is our home. It is where we’ve raised our children, where our grandson loves to hang out with his papa and gran, where our little dog loves to roam.
I am forever grateful, forever in love with our little home.
2 comments:
i love our home. i love my pink room (that daddy made sure was pink when we moved in), and i love the way it smells when we come over. daddy did a great job fixing it up and if you move to a cabin in the mountains i would love to live there. i love the back yard and the trails on the hill daddy cut for us. i love the cubby in the closet that daddy painted for us. nilly loves papas office in the laundry room and grans art room. he loves to climb on sannies bed and run in the yard. we love your home.
ps. the word verification i had to type in to leave a comment was amen!
That's awesome about the word verification Lis! Amen... God is so good.
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