I drove by that house today.
No matter the time of year or time of day that I pass that house, I see it in sepia.
I see the story of the house more than I see the house.
I was in that house before. Many times.
And I know the story.
Because he told me. While standing among molding and disintegrating books piled as high as I was tall. Where mice burrowed between the covers, in the pages they shredded. He told me while I stood looking at the kitchen sink that was teetering on the rotting counter. While we stood on the slanted and unsupported floor. I would look at the ancient kitchen table while he spoke, and try to decipher all of the items that had collected there over the years. He told me when we stood in the living room that held his twin size bed, that appeared to have walls of stuff built around it. We stood. In his house.
And, he told me.
As he spoke…. he filled my imagination with his reality. And his love for this place.
I could see ….
He moved in on a snowy Christmas Eve when he was five years old. With his parents and one sibling. It was dark. The snow was deep and heavy. They were happy coming home. He remembered it to me well.
It was a different world. A world I’ll never know but for the words and stories he shared.
He smiled remembering it to me. I smile when I think of him, and his stories. I remember the facts he told. And I recreate the scenes of his life. In that house.
He moved in young, to this house.
He loved his parents from this house.
He lost his parents from this house.
He went to school from this house as a child.
He went to work once he was a child no more from this house.
He went to war from this house.
He returned from war, changed, to this house.
He lived as family in this house.
He lived alone in this house.
His youth was spent in this house.
He found old age in this house.
He died old, in this house.
He was kind in this house.
He was gentle in this house.
I am reminded of him every time I pass that house.
I tip my heart to that house every time I pass it.
A house holds a lot of memories.
This one does for me every time I pass it. He had no children. Only one nephew. I’m glad I remember him so fondly, and his family’s story. What part of it that he shared.
I have been in that house and with many like that man. All we can do is remember and honour their memories. Home is where the heart is.
His heart was certainly there. He never left it, not his spirit any way. He left it to a veteran’s organization and they rehabbed it. I was glad to see it saved.
that is beautiful – and this was not house, but home, to him and his loved ones and his memories
It certainly is his home Beth. I’m glad it still stands and is a nice reminder to me, of him.
As Beth said its beautiful. I love that you also see it in sepia as I invisioned it. Sorry for not being around often.
Thank you Jen. And no apologies needed, life is more important and you are needed. ❤
Big Aussie hugs to you darling. xx
Thank you Jen, and returned to you from America ❤
It is so moving that he is remembered by you so lovingly.
Thank you Bernadette.
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What wonderful memories. ❤ ❤ ❤ Houses hold secrets and stories like people.
For some reason, this one gets me more than almost all of the others.
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Life is too short to not forget about all those memories!
It’s a nice prompt every time I see it TaylorM.
Awh. I hope you say a little prayer for him and the whole families who lived in that house.
I think very fondly of that family moving in over 80 years ago. I hope they feel that. 🙂
If they’re in a good place, I’m sure they can.
Wow Colleen so many memories
Indeed there is Lyn. Get’s me every time I pass it.
I do feel homes hold memories, even after those who loved them have moved on. I knew the former owners of our home. There’s a lot of story to it, and I feel their presence. On some level I feel we leave an essence. Your remembrance moved me, Colleen.
Thank you Debra. Like you, I believe in that essence. I love being in old houses and imagining the presence and the lives lived there. They were as real as my breathing in that moment.
I love the form “He remembered it to me so well.” It speaks volumes and expresses his whole life.
It really does Peter. He spent a lot of time remembering it to me. I never live through a Christmas Eve without thinking of them moving in when he was so young. That would be near one hundred years ago by now.
Lovely remembrances, and a lovely drawing to go with it.
Thank you Rlseaton. 🙂