This is so long that I will be posting it in 4 installments.
October 13, 2009 7:20pm The Last Goodbye I turned the key in the back door...one last time. A rush of memories came flooding back…Mostly of mom sitting in her office chair at the kitchen table where I saw her every day of August 2007, her last full month. The house was eerily quiet…no sounds of clocks ticking, voices, the dog, or mom. I picked up the phone and started to cry when I saw her blush still staining the phone where her cheek had touched it. I miss our daily phone conversations. I turned the heat up and looked at the register in the living room, remembering crouching there on cold winter mornings until dad would catch me and grumble “Stop blocking the heat!” I remembered the day when I tried to convince mom that I was sick and touched the end of the old mercury thermometer to that register only to have it read like 108…yep, mom caught on and I went to school that day.
6 comments:
Oh yeah, I also remember hearing, "Stop blocking the heat!" I remember thinking of what I was feeling as I went through the house a few days before it was sold. My feelings were as you might expect mixtures of memories from the past, sounds, smells, and of course deep emotions of life in that place for more than 20 years. For some reason, the emotions did not hit me until about 3 days later, but they REALLY clobbered me when they did! I remember when Dad passed away, a friend of mine said, "It only hurts as much as you loved them" and wow was he right. In an odd way, I actually like it when the emotions of life with all of us in that house come over me. I cry and just think of how blessed we all were to have the people and things we had in our lives. It really is not a sad time at all for me. Back to the picture, does anyone know when the partition was built? Also, look for my first blog entry, of probably many, on Dad-isms soon.
I don't know when the partition was built but I think it was in the 50's. It was such a good idea since you can see straight from the front door to the bathroom.
The living room holds so many memories of Christmas, when the tree would take up a good chunk of the room and later, all the family gatherings. I have a picture of Bill and Dad in the late 60's playing Chess at Christmas. And remember all the puzzles put together on that old black "chalkboard" and then the blue wall board piece?
I think we were truly blessed to have each other and that house for our entire childhood. Today it seems rare in many people's lives to have that consistency. Also the support we felt on Dad and Mom's death from a community that still has many of the families we knew as children. And the church community, that was such a big part of their lives, is still there and caring for our family. We are truly blessed.
I realize these pictures don't look right--- because the people are missing. Tears blur my eyes as I try to write. . .
I miss Dad's steady, even "keel" and sage advice, his devotion to his faith, his puns and sense of humor, and his perfectionistic, methodical way of doing things (even though it drove me crazy, at times). And Mom's warm, yummy hugs and total acceptance, her sense of humor, especially when she'd share a "off color" joke when I was an adult ( and get such a kick out of doing it!), and her faith and loyalty to her friends and family.
Just a note to verify that the purpose of the living room partition was to block view of the bathroom through the front door. I didn't realize that crouching on the hot air register was a right of passage. I remember being shown how to operate the thermostat, sliding the bar gently to the right, just enought to hear the furnace blower start up. There was no carpeting then. By the time Mom & Dad got up, the whole living room must have smelled like my pajamas were on fire!
Ah yes, and the smell of burning lint and dust when the furnace turned on for the first time in late fall after having been off for several summer months. I have a LOT of memories of the furnace. It was probably the first great contraption I analyzed and tried to understand. I remember Dad showing me how to lubricate the blower motor and clean out the burner. He was delighted when I got a job at Squeak's Standard gas station and I could take the burner in and blow it out with the air hose. I also remember for at least a while Dad had an ultraviolet lamp in the furnace to sterilize the air as it passed by. I'll bet you NOBODY else in Flat Rock had that!
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