This a picture of my family and our old farm house . . . but
this was more than a old house - it was my home where a lifetime of happy
memories were made.
I grew up on a 10 acre farm with horses and cattle and an old barn filled with sweet smelling hay that we loved to play in. The house was old and drafty and had a big country kitchen where you'd find my mom always baking something wonderful.
It had a huge attic that my brothers made into their bedroom and we all had to share one bathroom that didn't even have a shower. But we did have the best tasting well water you could ever find!
There was nothing fancy about this old place but we loved it!
There was a beautiful lake at the back of our property that we swam in every day of summer. We lazily sunbathed on the dock with our friends for hours on end. My brothers loved to go fishing in the rickety old rowboat we owned. One day it disappeared - we found out many years later my brother accidently sank it. It still sits at the bottom of the lake.
We raised cattle.
We rode our horses.
We had a beautiful German Shepherd dog named Prince that we loved.
We played endless games of hide and seek in the field of tall grass.
Sunday dinner was always pot roast.
Life was good.
It was in this old house that I was nurtured and loved by two wonderful parents.
It was here I became a young woman.
It was here that I fell in love.
It was here where I got married.
A few months ago I drove by the old place and saw that the windows were boarded up. I felt very sad knowing what that meant.
Yet I smiled as so many wonderful memories came flooding back.
Eventually the house was torn down. Now there is nothing left but the land, the barn, and an empty spot where the old house stood.
So today, my dear old, drafty, wonderful farm house . . .
~ I say FAREWELL ~
You gave me many, many years of happiness and warm memories for which I will will always be grateful ~
Cathy
I don't know about you but I have
The sweet sound of birds SINGING outside my window
My very first date was to a Valentine's Banquet when I was sixteen years old. The sweet memories of youth came flooding back to me this week as my husband and I attended another Valentine's Banquet. This one . . . forty-two years later. I got to share the evening with my beautiful sixteen year old granddaughter who was on a first date with a young man. As I sat watching her, those memories of years long past slowly unfolded before me of a very shy, young girl who was just beginning to experience the world of dating and romance. And now, so many years later . . . here I was, a Grammy, watching my precious granddaughter begin that journey for herself. My heart filled with joy and happiness as I saw her smile and laugh throughout the evening and I wondered what wonderful and magical things were in store for her in the years ahead. 
Woke up this morning to the sound of chain saws and saw about twenty men working across the street in our neighbors yard cutting up downed trees and cleaning up the damage from the recent ice storm. Just yesterday we had received a quote from a professional tree service for $950 to clean up our yard and take off all the mess we had. So we thought . . . maybe the men working across the street would help us and possibly charge less than what was quoted yesterday. Found out our neighbor didn't hire anyone - it was his church who had sent out the volunteers - free of charge! Heartwarming to see people helping others like that. Needless to say, we weren't able to hire them to work in our yard but another neighbor overheard my husband talking to them and volunteered to come over and cut up our trees and haul them all off for a fraction of the cost quoted us the day before. Ended up he, his wife and three teenage kids all pitched in, gave up their Saturday and worked hard to help us. We couldn't of been more grateful!
