This a lengthy post but it's more of a post specifically for Todd and me to journey our life and the emotions that come along with it. We don't mind sharing our blog to the world so if you care to read, by all means, do so. I'm sure we can all relate to these emotions...
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| Taken April 2012 |
It has been almost exactly a year since I wrote that blog post. Since then, Todd and I have had even more great talks about all the good times that were had on his grandfathers property better known as grandaddys house. I've learned that it was the gathering place every Sunday after church. I've learned that Todd learned to drive on the road that leads to the house. I've heard more details of how Matt and Melissa lived in the basement during their first year of marriage to take care of their grandmother after grandaddy passed away. I've learned that grandaddy had a horse and a garden. I've learned so much that I almost feel as if I was a part of it all even though those "times" were just before I came along. Which leads me to why I wanted to write this post today. I feel it is only fitting to journal how this house has come full circle.
The house is located off of a well known interstate not too far from our home. It is a route that we don't take too often but every single time we do, we glance at the house since you can view the backside from the highway. In fact, glancing at the house, has become complete second nature to us and I am usually the one to look and say..."there's grandaddys" since Todd is usually driving.
Saturday as Todd and I drove to my parents house for dinner, we took the route that the home is on. To my surprise as we passed, I saw something that took my breath away. The house had been burned. Of course I shouted it to Todd and we proceeded to turn around. We didn't speak many words on the way. When we arrived, we simply cried.
Who wouldn't?
Who wouldn't?
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| March 2013 |
For Todd, the memories flooded back to him. I can't even imagine. I was in tears just from the stories I've heard. We always knew this day would come. Since the new runway at the airport was built, all homes in this area were to be sold due to certain flight regulations. Even last April the house was already vacant and it was just a matter of time before it was demolished. In fact, I feel this is just the start of removing the existence of this home altogether. It was a controlled fire and I assume the city will be back to finish off the remains soon.
We walked around the property. I had never seen the basement area and basically by the way it was burned, everything just caved in to the basement. If I squinted my eyes just right, I pretended to imagine Matt and Melissa living there. Todd described the basement layout to me. Among all the ashes, it was actually refreshing to see the classic bright green bathroom tile had somewhat survived.
One of Todd's favorite features of the house was the fireplace. I'm so thankful last April I was able to walk around the house and see it in person before I had to see it like this....
This next picture gives you a better idea of how close airplanes fly over the house now. While we were only there about thirty minutes, I'm guessing at least a dozen or more planes flew over the house.
This was my favorite part of the remains...the left corner of the house still standing tall with one shutter still in place. 
In all, it was a sad afternoon. My only regret from the last time we visited was not actually taking something to remember the house by. I know that may seem cheesy but houses hold special places in our hearts. I know how much it means to Todd so we searched the ashes for something remaining to take with us. Todd gathered two bricks and I found a wooden 2 x 4 that looked as if it came from the kitchen cabinet or pantry shelf but I'm not really sure. The piece of wood is distessed white and hardly has any burn damage so I'm thinking of painting our last name (same as grandaddy's last name) on it or something. Any ideas? As far as the two bricks, we thought they could make good door stoppers or if we ever build something on our own future property one day (like a mailbox, our own garden, fireplace, house...), we could add them in.
I'd like to say that was our last time there. Maybe it will be but if they truly clear all the land, it wouldn't surprise me if we stopped back by one more time just to see it completely finished. Nothing is meant to last forever. This is just part of life. I'm sure Todd and I will experience many more full circle situations during our marriage.
I hope to be back soon with more uplifting blog posts. This post just had to be done. This is our life and we don't want to forget anything.
Thanks for reading!
-Sara