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Thursday, June 17, 2010

The house that built me


Today I am joining Leigh from Tales from Bloggeritaville in a "The house that built me" party.
She and anyone who joins her will be sharing about how their childhood home "built"them.

So - are you wondering about the picture? No, I wasn't raised in a barn! However, I was raised on a farm and it made a big impact on my life.
I don't have a picture of the house I lived in or the barn that was next to it. The land it was on is now the setting for a health food store and an auto dealership. I'm just going to have to tell you about it.
The house I lived in was also the house my dad was born in. It was an old white farmhouse. I shared a bedroom upstairs with my 2 sisters until I was in 8th grade and we built a new house. It wasn't a problem to share because most everyone I knew shared a room and we had a lot of fun talking and goofing around when we were supposed to be sleeping. Under the double bed I shared with my sister Terri, was a register grate. Our furnace was a gravity furnace and there were no ducts to the upstairs, so this grate was open. We would crawl under the bed and watch what was going on in the kitchen below. This was especially handy when we had a babysitter. We would watch what she ate and listen to her talking on the phone. (What naughty kids) When we heard Mom and Dad come home, we would crawl into bed and pretend to be sleeping! We had an enclosed porch on the front where we spent a lot of time playing. We didn't like the basement. It was dark and it seemed there was always water on the floor. When there was a tornado warning we would have to go down there and we hated it. The kitchen was big, and Mom spent a lot of time canning and freezing there.
I posted the picture of the barn because it looks similar to the one we had. We had a lot of fun in that barn, climbing in the loft and playing in the hay. We had lots of land to run and play on. In the winter there were plenty of hills for sledding. There was a creek where we used to catch frogs, and of course there were cows and chickens to watch. I remember running through rows of corn and riding on the tractor with my Dad. I remember walking out to the fields to find where Dad was working and bringing him a snack. We even had a little building that our Dad cleaned out for us to play house in.
It was a wonderful place to grow up, but the physical attributes of it weren't the most important thing. We were raised in a Christian home, where we were expected to help with the work, do our best, respect and treat those around us well, and we always knew that we were loved.
When I think back to being a kid and my memories of my home, I am struck by the fact that it didn't matter that the house was old and not very big. The memories I have are colored by the fact that I knew I was loved as a child. I knew that no matter what had happened during the day, when I came home I was with my family who would always be there for me. I am reminded again of how blessed I am, not necessarily with material things, but with a God who saved me, a family who loves me and friends who care about me!

19 comments:

Unknown said...

What wonderful childhood memories, I always wanted to live on a farm and play in a barn. I can just see you and Terri under that bed too.

Jenny said...

Sounds idyllic ... for all the right reasons. Looking down through the grate? I would've been all about that! I didn't have a childhood home to speak of, so I enjoy reading about others' memories of home. Thanks for sharing, Mari.

Jane said...

I really enjoyed reading about your childhood home...great memories.
Jane

Connie said...

Your story sounds like HOME!

Cheri said...

I love this post! I think I missed out a bit being the youngest- because I don't have hardly any memories of that house! However I do have lots and lots of happy memories of the other house and all the love and memories we made there!

Pat said...

I'm convinced that children who grow up in a country setting are the most privleged of all. What a sweet picture you have painted. You had the stability of staying in one place and a home full of love and Christian standards.
I like the idea of this post...I may have to borrow it!

Brooke said...

we worry so much about our kids (or niece and nephew in my case) having all they need. we tend to forget that while we didn't grow up with it all, we still managed to turn out okay. better than okay :)

thanks for sharing this memory with us! :)

Brenda said...

That was beautifully written, Mari.
What special memories.
Now that I'm in an old house with 'only' two bedrooms, it shows me how important family togetherness was in past generations. This house was originally owned by a family with 2 boys. They shared their bedroom. In the home we grew up in, my sister and I shared one and my 5 brothers shared the other, and it was a big 2-story older house. That's just the way it was. None of this 'the more kids you have the more room we need to spread out and have our own privacy' stuff. Now I'm not knocking those who have a large home, I'm just stating my observation of the times 'back in the day' ya know?
Have a great weekend.

Betty W said...

You were blessed with a great family. And your memories are so sweet. Sounds like a perfectly innocent childhood. I liked reading this.

Unknown said...

You had a neat childhood. I wish I would've known you. I would've loved being able to play in the barn. I used to wish I lived on a farm.

What a blessing to look back on your childhood and see so many happy memories.

Terri said...

I loved living on the farm and going frog and fossil hunting. Who knew how blessed we were - we didn't even have to drive to go sledding. I just assumed everyone sledded in their own huge backyard full of fields! And those haylofts - how much fun were they to run through. Walking for a picnic to the meteorite.....ahh great memories!

Anonymous said...

I love this post! I had no idea that is where your house was. I thought you live way out somewhere, LOL. Back then that was the country!

I'm so jealous you shared a room. I had my own room until I married David. No memories of the whole "sister" thing. I'm glad we raised our girls in the house I grew up so I could watch my 3 have all that fun in the same house.

Yes, we are blessed to have had the upbringing we both had. I'm so thankful that Lord put us in the amazing families he did!

Rae said...

That was a great post. I loved reading all your memories. Isn't it amazing how much we are shaped by our surroundings as we grow up. It is nice to reflect back from time to time.

Mike Golch said...

Mari,Great posting.Some how you comment on silly saterday got deleted by accident.

Justabeachkat said...

Loved reading this Mari. So many great memories.

Hugs!
Kat

Unknown said...

I love barns. They make me think of my daddy and my heritage. I loved this post. I love your memories!

Cherdecor said...

When I started reading this the other day, I got side tracked for some reason. I just finished reading this and it is a wonderful post! Thank you, Mari. I think all of us ought to do a similar post. No time this week! Hahaha!

Anonymous said...

Nice childhood memories.
As much as kids say they want a room of their own, so much is gained when shared with a sibling.

Crown of Beauty said...

Hi Mari,
I've been unable to visit many blogs the past months, and so tonight I've chosen your blog to visit, and I've scrolled down all the way from the top down to here! I've read the posts, seen the lovely photos you posted, and now I'll try to leave a comment at some of the posts.

This is such a heartwarming post, the memories you shared, the fun things you did, the barn, finding your dad to bring him a snack, the rows of corn... it's all so wonderful.

Thanks for taking time to share.

Love
Lidj