30 Years in the Same Home

Well now when I grew up I always thought I'd be a traveler and see the world. Then I fell in love and got married at the ripe old age of 18 and. As  it turns out I've lived in the same county & state for 60 years. Louie & I moved into an apartment. Oh I thought this was so exciting as I had lived in the same house all of my life. Slowly the reality of apartment life came to light, paper thin walls, crowded parking area, climbing stairs to the third floor while carrying groceries, sitting on the toilet and all of a sudden as if on a seesaw being raised up as the neighbor in the apartment behind you sits on their toilet. Well Hello! Then no matter how clean you kept your apartment there were cock roaches!!! Sprays, bombs etc. and they just kept coming back. We were not happy campers so... when we heard about a house in Brandywine for sale, we jumped!

As 1st time home owners we had some learning to do like learning a hot water heater doesn't always need to be replaced...you may be able to replace the elements! We settled in & made the house our home for 9 years. Then we moved for the 3rd time in our marriage. This time we stayed for 30 + years. You can just imagine all of the treasures we accumulated! When we decided to put our home up for sale I knew we had to declutter. Parting with my treasures was hard to do but slowly I realized that chances were my children wouldn't want or appreciate my treasures! My daughter's first drawing was my treasure& mine alone. I had cards from the 70's! So I went through them all & cried at some of them then I got rid of them. Little by little I made the hard choice of what to keep, what to donate ^ what to pack away for now. Some of my treasures are family heirlooms that I want passed down to my children & grandchildren. The kids won't get rich if they sell anything the value is priceless to me though. Well I started this process a while ago. My china, crystal & good silverware have been packed & moved to my son's basement to be stored. In the last year I've had my moments of tears when I needed a certain platter or bowl only to realize that it was packed away in Richard's basement. But the truth of the matter is we have survived with less. It's easier to keep the house clean & if the house sells it'll be easier to move. Louie hasn't really understood how hard it was for me to get rid of my treasures but...his turn will come when it's time to pack up the garage! I think I'll steer clear of him when that time comes!

So many wonderful moments have happened in this home. Wendy thinks of this as home so it's hard for her to think of us ever moving. Sarah told me, "Gammy you've lived here my whole life". She'll only be happy about us moving if we move closer to her & closer means in her neighborhood!

So far this is all happening in Baby Steps. I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Till next time Dear Ones...don't know how soon it will be...but I'll certainly try to post another adventure in the near future.

Sending you Warm Hugs!

Adventure's with Terry: He's Back!!!

Adventure's with Terry: He's Back!!!:      We decided not to have a garden this year. I've suffered through some health issues plus we decided to put our home (that we've...

He's Back!!!

     We decided not to have a garden this year. I've suffered through some health issues plus we decided to put our home (that we've been in for over 30 years) on the market. Louie & I thought a garden would be way too much work for us right now. We were right because we have been super busy. This summer it's been wonderful having Sarah spend most of her days with us! Daddy was looking forward to having Sarah visit him at least once a week. But...for 2 weeks in a row...on the days we were to visit Daddy something prevented Sarah from coming with us. He missed seeing her & she missed seeing him. Well today was the day for a visit with Granddad Ricketts!

Sarah was happy as we headed down the road to go over the river & through the woods to Granddad's house! As we passed the drive that leads to our old garden...Sarah noticed the gate was open & she thought Granddad would be at the garden so...we turned down the lane. As we approached the garden we could see Daddy hoeing his corn. On second glance Sarah exclaimed...Monty look Gammy it's Monty! Monty's back...Sure enough there he was standing guard over the squash, greenbeans & corn that Daddy had planted.

When I'd told Daddy that we wouldn't plant a garden this year, I explained that I just wasn't up to the work & having the garden then canning is work. Well Bless his heart when Daddy planted planted his corn, he with the help of my sister, planted squash & green beans to make sure we'd have some fresh veggies to eat. Now I ask you...how heart warming is that? Daddy has provided for his family all of these years & he is still making sure we have fresh veggies to eat! I do love this man! 

 

As soon as the truck stopped Sarah was out & headed to her Granddad Ricketts. It wasn't long before he was showing her how to hoe the corn.

 

 

When the time came to head over to Granddad's farm, Sarah decided she was riding with Granddad!

I don't know which one of them was happier.

I treasure these moments with these dear loved ones.

As they left us behind...I thought of how very blessed I am to be able to share adventures like this with my 85 year young Daddy & my 10 year old granddaughter. I hope she'll remember these adventures for a long, long time. 

 

When they finally took a rest... hugs, laughs and stories were shared. These two had lost time to make up for. When it came time for us to head for home, Granddaddy Ricketts told Sarah he was so happy to see her... then he said, don't stay away for so long...I had to wipe the tears from my eyes.

 

Well Dear Ones...it's been a while but I'm sending you all Love & Warm Hugs!