More Memories

This was my grandparents' house. The house has been in the family for a long time because it used to be owned by my grandmother's aunt before my grandparents owned it.  Now my uncle and aunt own it and live in it. We went there for a BBQ last night and it was the first time I'd seen it since they remodeled and moved in. A lot of memories came flooding back to me.

This is the living room which my uncle and aunt have kept pretty much the same. Some of the furniture belonged to my grandparents' and is still in the same place it used to be. I have many memories of my grandma playing piano in this room and sitting by the fire. She loved her fireplace.

One Christmas we gave my Grandpa a dancing, singing Santa and every time someone turned it on Grandpa would dance along with it, swinging his hips from right to left. This room reminds me of that.

Here is the kitchen. My aunt and uncle remodeled it before they moved in. It used to be tiny with barely enough room for two people to stand in comfortably. I used to hang out there with Grandma while she prepared meals. I remember talking and talking with her in this room. It looks so different now, it's barely recognizable. I think my aunt and uncle did a nice job with it though. I like the way they opened up the space and added the bar.

My grandmother loved this sun room. One summer she turned it into a bedroom for me and my friend who I'd brought with me from California. Grandma put two small beds in here and curtains over the windows so we'd have privacy. We'd stay up late into the night talking and giggling about boys. Grandpa would get up several times a night and bang on the door to let us know that it was time to quiet down and get to sleep. That was a fantastic summer.

This is the beautiful backyard. I remember doing many cartwheels here. I'm surprised there aren't watermelons growing back there because we spit many a watermelon seed in the grass each summer. I also remember seeing fireflies in this backyard on summer evenings. It was always a nice place but it's even nicer now because my aunt has an amazing green thumb.

On another note, today my mother, my aunt, and I went through all of Grandma's jewelry. No one had looked through it since she passed away three years ago. There was a lot of it. Some costume, some valuable, and some very sentimental. My aunt found a white envelope and handed it to me. On it, in my grandma's neat cursive, it said "from Juliette". 

I opened it and inside was a beaded necklace I had made for her when I was probably about 10 years old. Seeing the necklace brought back strong emotions for me. I tried to hold back tears but I couldn't. 

I was fine after just a few moments but the whole experience was a little overwhelming. Some of the jewelry was so familiar to me. I had seen Grandma wear it a hundred times. I pulled out one silver chain that I know my grandma used to wear all the time and I swear I could still smell her sweet scent lingering on it. 

This trip has just been full of so many memories...