For Sale
I was in my hometown last Tuesday for a business meeting. And I couldn't help it -- I had to check up on my family's former home, the house where I grew up -- which had seemed abandoned the last time I saw it.
To my great relief, it's been cleaned up and is on the market! This is the photo from the MLS listing. The house sits in the shade of an enormous maple tree, almost the only large tree left on the property. When I was small, however, this scant quarter-acre was my Eden. Back in the day, when my grandparents lived with us, their green thumb and love for trees were in evidence. On the front lawn you'd have found, in addition to the maple, a blue spruce, a magnolia tree, azaleas, and boxwoods. In the back yard were a tall birch, a peachtree, a Japanese maple, lilac and hydrangea bushes, a vegetable garden, a rose bed, and yet another maple tree. There was also a slender mimosa tree, planted by my father on the day I was born. I can still feel the shade of those trees on my face, and recall the scent of the lilacs, which bloomed prolifically.
After my grandmother died, most of the trees and shrubs slowly died off, too. We always cut the lilacs to take to the cemetery, but they eventually faded away. The birch died of a blight; the roses died of neglect. My mother was not a gardener, nor was my dad, and they slowly had the ailing plantings removed. My dad claimed it was easier to cut the grass without having to cut around bushes and trees. But to me it seemed a comparative wasteland.
Never mind. Yet another family will now have the chance to make this little house their own. Time passes, and perhaps another little girl will grow up there.
The house is a steal at $199,000. But if you buy it, please plant some trees!
 |
| My Family Home |
To my great relief, it's been cleaned up and is on the market! This is the photo from the MLS listing. The house sits in the shade of an enormous maple tree, almost the only large tree left on the property. When I was small, however, this scant quarter-acre was my Eden. Back in the day, when my grandparents lived with us, their green thumb and love for trees were in evidence. On the front lawn you'd have found, in addition to the maple, a blue spruce, a magnolia tree, azaleas, and boxwoods. In the back yard were a tall birch, a peachtree, a Japanese maple, lilac and hydrangea bushes, a vegetable garden, a rose bed, and yet another maple tree. There was also a slender mimosa tree, planted by my father on the day I was born. I can still feel the shade of those trees on my face, and recall the scent of the lilacs, which bloomed prolifically.
After my grandmother died, most of the trees and shrubs slowly died off, too. We always cut the lilacs to take to the cemetery, but they eventually faded away. The birch died of a blight; the roses died of neglect. My mother was not a gardener, nor was my dad, and they slowly had the ailing plantings removed. My dad claimed it was easier to cut the grass without having to cut around bushes and trees. But to me it seemed a comparative wasteland.
Never mind. Yet another family will now have the chance to make this little house their own. Time passes, and perhaps another little girl will grow up there.
The house is a steal at $199,000. But if you buy it, please plant some trees!
Comments