That Old House
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
North American (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
when we first moved in I knew that old house needed some work. It was already a fixer upper but mom wanted me to move in with her. One of my first memories of that house was when I was holding Baron and well he was just a baby and the wind blew the rug right up right next to us. And then we knew we needed some new flooring. So we got red tile Our first spring we started to plant our garden in 1956. We only had one milk cow and I got the kids a pony. We always had chickens though the first week I lived there I started cooking sunday dinner with my mom. She always made us ice cream on the weekends. Cecilia started working on the house little by little she put paneling up next and then we got plumbing in a new bathroom, she got everyone involved. It was a family project and even the kids helped us with the plumbing beth e climbed under the house to help her put in the pipes and Baron was her assistant. It scared me sometimes but we got it done. We had to put pipe from the well to the other side of the house. We had a hand pump before that when the government came and took it we had to tear the barn down. We couldn't have any more cows or a garden. We lost the land even though they never did anything with it. I think C. D. Might have tore down the barn and with a little bit of anger I wouldn't have done it. If it was my decision I would have just made them do it themselves when I couldn't work anymore. I really couldn't stand to be outside but hopefully C. D. Can get the old place fixed. We were really happy out there. This old house was acquired by Mammal Dosha in July of 1955. It's probably the oldest house on that road. It was already maybe 200 years old when mom bought it. Used to be an old store and an apothecary. I was so lucky I got to watch my son, my nieces and nephews and grandchildren grow up there. It was always filled with spirit. There was always plenty of food just for them to grow up healthy. We all worked so hard to fix up that old place and plant a garden. There was always room for all the Children that came in. Even the neighborhood kids, there was a clean stream running by the old house which the Children loved. I loved watching all the creative ways they used to play. They didn't have to have toys, they played in the woods with the trees and in the creek and anything they could imagine or make believe I hope we can keep this house and make it something like a cabin or a bed and breakfast for all of us or just a place to get away and remember the good times after we initially fixed it up every once in a while, the house would need a repair. We would all chip in and get it done. Even the kids, I hope that we can all come together and fix it one more time. We never thought we'd get her out of that old country home with all the unforgettable memories. I know it was hard for her and it's still there which I think comforts her. It will sit empty, but it still stands. I stayed with her a lot whenever I was young, we were always together and I was kind of like her shadow for many years. We were always gardening, cleaning out the bottles and feeding the cows. We even had chickens for a while and I know that the red hen house is still standing. There was always so much fresh food there. Her garden was maybe about 30 yards long. Food was always at the center of our family at that old house. She always cooks a spread every sunday and it's always just whatever you want and you better believe it's good. Some of my all time favorites have to be her spaghetti pork chops and best of all her homemade biscuits. I could go on for days about her food when my sister and I stayed with her breakfast was the same, just whatever you want. The biscuits are just something else. She always let us help out and do what she calls pushing them down, which is just cutting the biscuit dough into circles. But you always felt special when you were the one doing the pushing I guess if I had to put it in a nutshell, I'd say that to me it means peace, peace and quiet peace of mind in a place where I made some of my fondest childhood memories when I was young. That house was a calm retreat from my otherwise hectic life. Life at home wasn't the best in the world. Whereas at the old house I could relax, I could read, I could go for walks in the woods, I hunted for fossils and arrowheads and at night I could just watch the shows on the tv that I wanted to watch or I could just sit quietly and think I could do these simple things and I could really only do them without being interrupted or judged at the old house actually at times it felt like the old house was my real home during summer vacation. I would typically spend a few weeks there. I looked forward to it all year long. My cousin Derek would come and stay there too. We would catch frogs and minnows in the creek that ran next to the house. We do it all the time and it never seemed to get old, we would play hike and we'd just hang out. There are also memories of holidays, opening presents at christmas easter egg hunts, there's a garden every summer there were cattle and chickens. There are also older memories, memories that are vague and less tangible. For example, some of my only memories I have of my mother are from the time I spend at the old house, she died when I was really young. So there are not really memories of us doing anything or things that she said. It's more just memories of feelings of peaceful feelings. But of course it's just a house and what's important is who the house belonged to my grandmother's house. She was the one who provided the peace and love that I desperately needed when I was growing up and without her, none of it would have meant anything. And I don't know what kind of person I would be if not for the memories I made there and for the peace and the love that I felt when I was at my grandma's house.