Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Childhood Home

While in San Antonio this past weekend, we stopped by the house where I grew up and knocked on the door. A beautiful blonde woman answered the door with a look on her face that said, “Do I know you?”

“Hi. I lived in this house when I was a little girl until I was 13 years old. Do you mind if I come inside and see my old house? I want to show my husband the room I grew up in.” She graciously obliged, even though the look on her face showed that she was a little nervous with us strangers traipsing through her house.

It was pretty amazing. Nearly every room had undergone some kind of a significant facelift. It looked the same 1940s ranch style house on the outside, but the inside was totally modern and updated.

I’m glad for the new family that is enjoying the gleaming granite countertops and the newly installed Jacuzzi bathtub, but my favorite parts of the house were the ones that had gone unchanged: the old windows that you have to crank open by hand, the old-fashioned telephone stand carved into the wall of the hallway, and of course the tree house my Dad built for us kids that is still in the backyard over 20 years later!

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A couple of weeks ago, Hubs and I had dinner with the couple from which we bought our new house. They moved less than a mile away, and they have three little boys. I wonder if they will want to come visit the place they first called home. If they do, their swing set is still here for them to enjoy!

11 comments:

Sharon said...

wow, that's pretty bold. I don't know if I could do that.

Autumn's Mom said...

I couldn't do that now, the neighborhood I grew up in has gone down hill. You are lucky to have been able to keep one family home in the family and one where you were able to revisit. How could anyone say no to such a sweet face? :)

J said...

That's very cool. Glad you got to show Hubs. :) We went to visit the house in Canada where Ted lived as a very young child, though he didn't remember it, because they moved to California when he was about a year old. But it was fun to look at the house, and visit with the family, who were the same folks that had bought the house from Ted's family way back in 1966!

lisa w. said...

Everytime we drive by your old house (going to Chester's Hambugers), we ALWAYS comment on YOU! That will forever be y'alls house!!!

Mrs. G. said...

I read this this morning and had to come back and read it again. So sweet. I hope the couple comes back.

Ginny said...

Only in the south would someone let strangers into their home! Can you imagine people in LA's faces!?

I'm glad you got to visit your old home. I did that but didn't have the nerve to ask if I could come in, I just stood at the front door. I was caught because I was looking in the back yard from the front yard. My dad built a bridge that went over our creek and there were still beautiful lilies all over the back yard my mom planted. So sad... but so good to see it. :)

Guess what, speaking of home, we're moving home to Louisville for 1 year while Kevin applies to PhD programs! I'm so happy!!!

Dana Cheryl said...

What a great story! I'm visiting San Antonio in a few weeks and your blog is fostering all kinds of excitement for my upcoming trip. Thanks for sharing!

Cherry said...

So far, my parents still live in the house I grew up in and Eric's dad lives in the house he grew up in. I don't know how I'd feel about visiting it once someone else lives there. I have a dream that one day I'll live there again.

Saucy said...

That was brave of you! I would be so nervous. Luckily, my parents still live in the house I grew up in. I will be a nervous wreck when it is time to sell it.

I don't know how I would feel about past inhabitants dropping in on me... what if my laundry was all over the floor? And the kids rooms a bit of a disaster? *shudder*

Catherine said...

I LOVE driving by my old house in Garland and seeing what the new people have done with it!! It would be awesome to go inside . . . good for you for asking!!

Pat Mask said...

That sounds like something I'd do. There are great memories for me as well at that wonderful house - the backyard, the sweet-singing bird your mom had (in the dining room?) and on and on. So glad you did that.