Memory Lane...

Last Tuesday evening, I had the very special opportunity of taking a little trip down memory lane. Literally.

I was invited to visit the the place where my grandpa and grandma Gerber lived in after they retired from the farm which was when my parents got married and took over the farm.

It was been many years since I've been back to that sweet little house. My grandma passed away (I'm pretty sure) 13 years ago this summer and my grandpa has been gone for 9 years. So I would guess that it's been about 14 years since I've been back there. They lived on a little hobby farm just around the corner from my parents farm. I have wonderful memories of my visits and times spent there....delicious sunday dinners...getting to stay overnight when my parents had evening plans (grandma would serve pie for breakfast if you can believe it)....Christmas dinners when the little house would be full to bursting with all the cousins (we loved it!)....playing outside under the huge maple trees (trying to swat off all the mosquitos) with orange frisbees from Florida....eating strawberries from grandma's patch...checking out the groundhog holes.....playing in the sandbox....having leaf raking parties with the cousins and enjoying a huge snack-fest afterwards that grandma prepared for us (hot cocoa from scratch...popcorn....cookies) and the list goes on. Lots of wonderful memories! 

One of my cousins bought the property when my grandparents were no longer able to live there on their own. He and his wife moved in 10 years ago after they were married and have lived there ever since.

This summer, they will be building a new house in the very same spot that the current house is sitting. They graciously invited us over to see the house one last time and wander around the property to check everything out and take pictures. They have cut down some trees to make room for the new house. And removed the shrubs, plants and flowers growning around the house. Otherwise it looked exactly as I remembered.

I am just amazed at how the memories came flooding back...It was like time was standing still for a moment or two that night. Over time, I think I associated most of my memories with the house itself. But Tuesday evening I realized it was much more then the house itself. It was the setting. It's absolutely beautiful. Peaceful. A little piece of paradise I think. Grandpa and Grandma both loved trees. The more the merrier and the bigger they were the better. Grandpa was a firm believer that you NEVER cut a tree down. So you can just imagine how lush and green things were around there. There is a ravine with a creek that flows behind the buildings. It's off the beaten path. It's magical!

This next picture tugs at my heart strings... It could have been taken 35 years ago and looked exactly the same with the my boy cousins heading out to explore the river...now it's their sons doing the same thing. 

I look at this next photo and in my mind I can hear the crunch of gravel as car tires drive around the side of the house. It's like I'm stuffed in the back of my parents car with my siblings and we're coming over to visit grandpa and grandma...

We chuckled when we saw this old bird was nailed to the garage door. Grandpa had him nailed to a big tree close to the house where he kept vigil... 

Grandma's greenhouse. It still smelled exactly the same. All earthy and greenhousy. We had to do a sniff test and check it out. My grandma LOVED plants. LOVED THEM! She had a green thumb. (Unfortunately I don't take after her in that respect.)

Inside the house, it was fun to have a peek into all the rooms that we used to run around in. The kitchen sink light still took a moment to turn on when you tugged on the light pull. It faintly hummed and buzzed when it finally did turn on....just like I remembered. The door latch to the basement still made the same clinking sound when you lifted the latch to open it. And the pink and black tiles in the bathroom were still all intact and as pink as ever. Loved it! While I did take photos inside the house, I realized afterwards that it was the ones taken outside that captured my feelings and memories from all those years ago...

I'm so grateful to Wayne and Susan for giving us the opportunity to wander around with cousins, aunts, my  uncle and enjoy such a fantastic evening. It was amazing how we all remembered different things. And once you start reminiscing...it keeps going on and on. I'm sure grandpa and grandma wouldn't believe their ears and eyes if they knew what we were doing that night and heard what we considered wonderful memories! AWESOME! :-)