When we were in Royal Center on Sunday, we had the special priviledge of being invited to go see our old house! The pastor and his wife generously opened their home to us and Em and I were just giddy! I haven't been in there since a few months after we moved. So, it's been about 15 yrs. So much of it's the same and it brings back so many memories. We stood in the different rooms and told the pastor (he's the one with the beard in the kitchen picture) and his wife about some of the things we remembered. I remembered getting spanked by the belt for the first time after slamming Micah's head in the front closet door - it was a TOTAL accident by the way. ;-) I remembered moving the sofa around, so we could all gather in front of the tv to watch "Wizard of Oz". It was so fun talking with them and seeing how things had changed, or not changed. It's funny, because the house in Royal Center still felt like home to me. My parents could move there tomorrow and I would feel like no time had passed. When I dream, my home is always THAT home. I never dreamed about the Goshen homes. Or, even my home here. My kids or my husband might be in my dreams and that home we're in in my dreams is the RC house. I'd be interested to ask my Aunt Judi if she still feels that way about her home in Runnemede. You'll have to answer that one for me. Jude! :-) I took lots of pictures of it to send to Micah, so he could see what it looks like now. The pastor and his wife were so nice and the pastor was cracking me up. Such a funny guy! It was great to meet him. I guess mom and dad have met them before and really enjoyed them a lot. It was just so wonderful of them to let us back in. Loved every minute of it! Just wish Micah, Cara, and the boys could have been there too, so it would've been complete. :-)
* I included a couple pictures I took that day up in Goshen of my parents with the kids and of Em and Jeff. :-)
2 comments:
Yes, I feel the same way. When my dad left Runnemede and I went back, they had rehabbed the house somewhat. But upstairs in the attic bedrooms, it was exactly the same. And the little girl who had my old room had arranged her furniture exactly the way I had arranged mine.
I was looking at the pictures you had online of the RC house and no wonder your family could move back in and feel at home. The house hasn't changed at all. Oh, the paint might have changed, but the kitchen still has the same cabinets, etc., and the fireplace is the same. The TV is in front of the window, sort of. Wow! I was at home in RC and I didn't live there.
I loved our visits to RC each Thanksgiving for those 5 years or so we visited you. Wouldn't it be nice to get together for Thanksgiving again? Maybe we should work on that!
I dream about Gramps and Grandma's house too. We only visited once a year, but it was like home to me too. When we visited there after Gramps' memorial service, so much had changed, but it was still the same to me. I will always hold great, loving memories of that house too.
The pastor's wife asked me what I thought of the house, coming back after all these years. She wondered if it felt bigger or smaller or whatever. Em thought it seemed smaller, but we moved when she was 11. I was there until I graduated, so it seemed exactly the same to me. Exactly how I remembered it. Glad to see you thought the same thing! I miss that house. And, I was so thrilled that I got to go back and, especially that I got to go back with Em and mom and dad. That was a special treat. Madie was pretty excited to see where I grew up. It was fun sharing that with her.
I totally remember our thanksgivings together. I remember us waiting around the turkey to see who would get the first piece of skin. ;-) Playing monopoly with Becky and Cyndi for hours. Great, great times!!!
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