Memories

Hi again

Today a weird thing happened to me. I was out driving around this afternoon and on the spur of the moment decided to go past my grandparents house. Both are now dead, and the house which stayed in the family for a little while after Gran's death was eventually sold. I had often wondered what it now looked like as it has been renovated and is now on the market again.

I have so many fond memories of that house- it was my second home and will forever remain so very special to me. I often dream of my grandparents in this house, I can remember so many details, like which floor boards used to squeak and what the old carpet looked like. Whistfully, I often drive by, conjuring up these memories and longing for things to be like they used to be.

But I realise, time moves on, things don't stay the same, and some things are best not to be revisited.

As chance would have it though, on my slow drive past I saw the real estate agent was there, and literally seconds before reaching the house, my car started making a very loud banging sound. I thought my tyre had blown, so pulled off the road onto the lawn of my grandparents house, and whilst looking for the strange noise, cheekily asked the agent if I could have a look.

My curiosity is now sated, and a now have a dull sense of knowing with me, because even though this was the house my Grandad built, it's not the same. It is bare and lonely inside, his handyman efforts (good and bad- and sometimes illegal!!) have all been removed, and the house is painted the same colour in every room. It's been nicely done, but walls have been moved and others put in, and it is no longer the house of my memories. The only things remaining are my Grans nurene bulbs in the garden and the letterbox Grandad made.

I am sad, and now I know it is time to stop thinking of this house in the here and now, and remember it as it was: crowded with the lives of six sons, twenty something grankids, and a lifetime of memories.

I love my Gran and Grandad, but now this house will only live on in my memory.

CK