I was visiting Stone Café Creations website (www.stonecafecreations.com) some time ago to see some pictures that Kristi took of our oldest son Kyle. While there I was clicking through the site to see her other work when I wandered across this picture of a house. This was one of those strange moments that can't be explained. That picture had deep meaning to me; it touched a place in my heart that I can't adequately express. This blog is my attempt at some sort of explanation.
It was probably decades ago when someone bought this piece of land with the dream of building a home. It may have been part of a farm originally. It was a good place to raise a family…….from the looks of the house it was likely going to be a big one. Back in those days more than one generation lived in the home, families were closer. There wasn't much thought given to it, that's just how things worked. Somewhere along the line we, as a culture, decided every family had their own home and when grandma or grandpa gets old, we'll put them in a home for someone else to take care of.
To build a home like this was no small task. It would have taken some very skilled carpenters and masons. I suspect it was a young couple that first had a vision of their home. Then there was an architect to get that vision on paper, and workers to build the dream from the drawings. There was a first day on this project. Imagine the excitement of the young family. I can almost see one young boy standing beside his mother. She is pregnant with their second child - (she secretly hopes for a girl). They are both nervous and excited as their new home is only a dream but the foundation has been staked out. Its early spring and they hope for a dry one so the construction will move quickly. And time marches on………
Later in the year the house was going well. The young family watched as they were beginning to put the roof on. It was hot out and they realized how utterly barren their land was. No shade and the corn field blocked much of the breeze. They decided they needed to plant some trees. They would need shade to keep cool in the summers. The gentle breeze blew and they heard the rustle of corn leaves as they continued to build. And time marches on……..
The months passed and their home was completed. The excitement had to more than they could stand. They were moving in. It was such an exciting time in their lives. More children were born. There were birthday parties and dinner parties; friends, family and neighbors. The kids grew and there were broken bones, toothaches, scraped knees and homework. Then grandpa passed away, a year later grandma went to be with the Lord also. Things just didn't seem the same without them. And time marched on………..
The kids all grew up. Some had a rough time, others have done quite well. They went to college, got married and got homes of their own. Then Mom passed away….. How can that be? How can time pass by so quickly? All the kids commented on how it didn't seem that long ago they were in the old house on 130. When they get together they always talk about the fun times they had there. So many Christmas trees, so many Easter dinners, so many Sunday meals with the whole family after church. Those were good times. Things were somehow simpler then. Now it was gone. It will never be that way again. And time marches on…………
Dad didn't fare so well after mom passed away. They had always been together. They were inseparable……that's probably why Dad died only months later. He was still healthy when mom died, but you just can't live that long with a heart broken that badly.
Others lived in the house, some for a while, some not so long. There were more kids and grandkids, moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas. Truth be known, there were probably a million memories made in that old house. Now the house is empty. It almost appears ghostly…..not scary….or frightening but kind of stuck in another time. If you look real close you can almost see the kids playing in the yard. You can imagine Grandpa is napping in the screened in porch on the swing. Imagine the tire swing hanging in the tree with the youngest spinning and swinging and giggling. You can see the concerned parents looking out the windows. You can hear the drum of a thousand rain storms and the clash of hundreds of bolts of lightning that seemed so close by. It seems like it wasn't that long ago. But time marches on…………
The front door is boarded up now. A lot of life passed through that door…….someone had to be the last. What a sad day. What a moment when someone closed that front door for the last time and walked away, leaving the house on 130 to memories and photographs. Time marches on, I know, but sometimes I wish it didn't. I close my eyes and imagine visiting that old house on 130 when it was full of kids and love and family and God.
They are getting ready to tear down the house on 130. I guess they need the land for a mall or grocery store. Someday they will pull in with a big track hoe and level the place in a matter of minutes. It doesn't seem right. It feels like we should hold onto those simple times. There is nothing they could build that would leave its mark on time like this old house. Yes, time marches on....but we don't have to be in agreement with it.
Just thinking.
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