After months of cleaning and selling household items, my grandmother's house is for sale. While we are thankful to still have her with us, she can no longer live by herself. It was time to sell it, but that doesn't make saying goodbye any easier.
Next to my own house, I spent most of my time at "Mommom's House." I stayed there on inservice days when my mom had to work. My sick days were usually spent there. When my parents went somewhere on a date, I went to Mommom's. I loved every second I spent there. I have SO many memories in that house, and I thought I might share a few with you.
The tree has long-since been cut down, but a huge pine tree used to be here. You can see the stump in the ground. It was the perfect climbing tree, and I would spend hours in it. I had "rooms," would make up stories, and would read books in it. It was the best!
This stoop was the location of so many mud pie concoctions! She would give me a dish pan, a shovel, and a cup of water, and I would add dirt and play to my heart's content. I was a tomboy, so being dirty didn't both me at all!
Even though her house in on a very busy road, she has a huge front yard that I turned many cartwheels on. I also loved to sit on the porch and count the cars. We had lots of yard sales and lemonade stands in her front yard too!
This field used to be a lovely home garden. My favorite produce out of it were the tomatoes and strawberries. I used to love to pick them. There's nothing like a freshly picked tomato! Yum!
You wouldn't think there would be a memory tied to the kitchen sink, but I spent many hours playing in soapy water, pouring water from cup to cup, and dunking little toys under the water. This is also a place where Mommom would often stand washing her dishes. While she could have had a dishwasher, she never did. She always said she liked washing her own dishes.
This is where the kitchen table stood. It was just a little drop leaf round table, but there was always room. We often joke now that Mommom's love language is food, because she absolutely loved cooking for people. She would make me yummy salads (I loved them even as a little girl) or sandwiches with chips and we would sit here and talk. This was always the "kid table" at holiday gatherings. Even though there were five grandchildren, we all always managed to fit!
Right here sat a red oval-shaped Tupperware container and a white rectangular Tupperware container for as long as I can remember. In them were almost always chocolate chip cookies, brownies, yellow cake with chocolate icing, or some other yummy treat.
Also in the kitchen right next to the refrigerator sat three clear glass cookie jars that were always filled with pretzels, ginger snaps, and usually some other kind of cookie. The pretzel jar was always in front and was never empty. We always knew where we could go for a snack! Pretzels and orange juice were my favorite snack/drink combo at Mommom's house.
In the dining room, most of the floor space was filled with the dining room table. When I was growing up, many heated games of Pinochle were played at this table with Mommom, Pop Pop, and Aunt Daisy! This was also where the food would be spread out buffet-style for family gatherings. Mommom always had shrimp cocktail and a yummy spinach dip for the veggies that I loved.
This is the living room, which had a couch, 2 recliners, a chair, and 2 rocking chairs. It's amazing how much seating you can fit into a small space! Sick days were spent on the couch watching Price is Right with Pop Pop and yelling at the people on the TV when they were too high or too low. Many, many Christmas Eves were spent piling into this room to exchange presents.
See the mark on the floor there? This is where the bar used to stand in the basement. I really don't know why they had it because I never saw them use it, but I LOVED playing at it! I would serve up all kinds of drinks using the cups from Hawaii and pretend that I was at some kind of tropical place.
I always loved playing in the basement. I would ride around on my bike or little push toys, play hide and seek,or just pretend. In more recent years, this area housed all of the teaching materials I couldn't bear to part with.
There are SO many more memories I could share. As I walked through the house taking pictures and mentally saying goodbye, I couldn't help but tear up a little. It's the closing of a huge chapter of our lives, and this house was a central point for our family for 60+ years.
Goodbye, little brick house. Thanks for so many great memories!
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