Important houses
I want to leave behind stories for those that come after me. It is important that if someone asks a question about where they come from that there’d be a response. And not just a point on a map. I am fortunate in that the homes of my two sets of grandparents are still standing period. I can take you to the front door and point although neither home is still in the family as they say. But these homes were both similar in size and building materials and proximity to important jobs. The railway if you will when it still was here. Both homes had an upstairs in the downstairs and the number of bedrooms and in certain of these places people were born and died. A lifetime under a roof if you will. The views from the windows were similar although one set of grandparents had a river in their backyard. Teeming with trout as I remember we don’t do that sort of thing anymore. Unlike now the car was less important. People tended to keep horses and carts and they never went more than a few miles to get to anything unless they need to take the train. I was fortunate enough to live in the home of one of my grandparents when I was a fully grown working adult so my memories are quite sharp. In the other case, I remember details. Stairs. Because I tended to climb those on my hands and knees given my age. One family drank coffee and the other drank tea. I can remember the mystery of the coffee percolator. Both families eventually had small television sets but that was not an important part of the home rather having neighbours dropped by for a chat and some tea that was what made a house into a home. I know that both homes had cats because when you live in the country that’s your first defence against the invaders. I would love to have the chance to show these houses to my descendants: my sons and my nieces and nephews and in one case to a couple of my sisters because they came along after the fact. In both houses the kitchen was the most important room that was mainly where you made fresh cookies. You see, details do get affected by your age. And there were telephones. Eventually you can find the book that talks about getting the phone and the lights but those came afterwards. The houses came first in both cases around the time of the First World War or little before. It puts a date on things.
