"The Old Homeplace"

I've been in TN with my family cleaning out my Aunt Julie's old house. It was originally my grandmother's house, and when my grandmother had her strokes my aunt moved back in with her to take care of her, and there my Aunt Julie remained. Now that they are both gone, we do not know what will happen with the old place. It's more than 110 years old and needs enormous work done to it. But I don't think it's even worth it. It just has that old musty smell to it, uneven flooring, etc. It sits up on a hill at the edge of town on 3 pretty acres with lots of trees.

I spent many summers here in this house as a young child. It has no central air and heat, and the kids' room was upstairs. Me and my brother and my sister all in the same room. I still remember those hot summer nights. Every time we would come, my grandmother would make sure she had her crisp, clean sheets on the beds. She wouldn't have it any other way. Windows wide open and a fan blowing. We never complained about the heat, that's all we knew, and that's just the way it was. The only thing I hated about sleeping with the windows open was the train passing through town with its horn constantly blowing, and the neighbor's dogs down the hill literally barking all night.

This was once a happening little town back in the day, but now it remains a sleepy little town, graced by mostly those who grew up here. This is where I was born, and the place my mom calls "home." She had a rather large family, full of aunts and uncles and cousins. My mom is 67 this week and her family is passing away slowly but surely. All that truly remain is a few aunts and uncles, one brother, and her cousins. I remember as a kid every year we would do the family reunion on my grandmother's lawn. We were looking over old pictures this week and there were lots of pictures of our "dinners," as we called them. The yard was filled with rows and rows of tables of food. We had one of our family dinners after my Aunt Julie's memorial, and as I looked around I noticed we were now down to one table of food. Nonetheless, this is where my mom wants to move back to for their retirement.


Me and my brother and sister are not too sure about this, but it is a convenient location to each of us, but still not right with either of us, and let's face it, they are not getting any younger. But if that's what will make them happy, then we'll support their decision. I believe my mom would like to be with her brother, who is now in his 70s, and she still has friends there. We'll see what happens. We'll make one more trip there to the old house next month, and then it will probably be locked up forever. It's a long story, and not really a need to go into any detail, but the bank now owns the property and the house, so we really do not know what will happen to it.

There's an old song that my husband likes to sing while he's picking on his guitar, and it goes something like this:

What have they done to the old homeplace? Why did they tear it down? Why did I leave the plow in the field to look for a job in the town ...

That's not exactly our story, but now when I hear him sing it I get tears in my eyes thinking about it.

Is my quote of the month really true? When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood.

I believe it's just a new chapter in our lives. Tis true, we came into the world with nothing and we will surely leave with nothing. A house is just wood, mortar and brick, but the memories of our home are stored in our minds for a lifetime!