My dad just sent this proof to me. I didn't recognize at first glance, but now I see it, clear as day.
This is the farmhouse that I grew up in, circa 1984. This home, this yard, this homestead has the most joyous memories for me. In 1984, I was three and had a one year old brother. My mom wasn't sick and my dad kept the homestead full of animals.
In this picture I see the barn with the hayloft I enjoyed having tea parties in. I think of the pigpen and lambing quarters. I think of the winter days with the cows all in their scansions, my short dad standing in the gutters to clean them, with the radio blasting. I see the chicken coop, with the nesting area that is in my barn now. I see the rock that my mom planted tulips around. I used to pick those tulips to bring to my teachers. I see the big garden, the one I picked all the miniature unripe tomatoes for my dad one year. I see my swingset and my mom's clothesline. I see the place we played wiffle ball and the driveway I jumped rope in. I remember having popsicles on that picnic table. I see the garage that was always full of sawdust and housed the electric fence box that we had to turn off for a show, so our one station on TV wasn't static. I see the pole barn that smelled like tractor oil and sounded like peeping baby birds. I see my beloved trees and remember playing under them. Of course there's my beloved farmhouse. I'd enter with a swing and a slam of the screen door, get asked a 2nd time to leave my boots in the shed. I was read to, fed, played with, comforted and was loved within these walls. It's a bittersweet thing, remembering my childhood that was so lovely but also grieving that those years were short before my mom got sick (and subsequently went to be with Jesus). I will always love this homestead and the memories made there.
Thankfully my heart is big enough for one more farmhouse love. This is where we live now, this picture is circa 1969. It's so fun to compare and contrast. My current garden is is opposite their main garden. All the hedges are so overgrown now. Flowerbeds have obviously expanded. It's sad to see the white fence and the two attachments to the main barn were removed last year with our barn saving process, although a good thing that the barn is surviving. The house is basically the same. It's a lot more to clean compared to my first farmhouse above, that's for sure! I work so hard maintaining this homestead, I hope and pray my kids will look back at their childhood farmhouse with the same amount of fond memories I recall about my own childhood home.
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