Reflections 11: Grandparent's Houses

I loved their home. Everything smelled older, worn but safe; the food aroma had baked itself into the furniture. ~Susan Strasberg

Describe your grandparents' houses. Did you visit them often? Why or why not?

Grandparent houses are such magical places!!

Granny and Papa's house when I was a child was in town near us, and we would go there many Sundays, plus often just for visits. They had a gigantic evergreen tree out in the front yard, and a plum tree around the side of the house. Behind it, there was the garage and the swing-set, and a dune buggie we could play in. On the other side of the house was two horses we liked to pet--we called them Sunrise and Midnight because one was red and the other was black.

Their glass door would make rainbows on the tile floor, and everything was so warm and comfortable.

When I was about 11, they moved into a bigger house. This one was way out in the country, so there was lots of land to run around on. They had several horses--Fancy (the only girl), Tucker, Murray, Pete, and Levi--that we could ride, although I am pretty scared of horses. There were three dogs--Ringo, Rex, and Patches, and they were sweet doggies. Right next door was Robbie and Alice, which was wonderful--that meant we could visit them all at the same time!

Granny's house was two stories, with rich green carpet and crosses everywhere. Granny always had really good taste in decorating. There's the computer room down stairs, two bedrooms and a playroom upstairs. Lots of places to run around.

Pat and Pawpaw's house we visited less often, but it was really nice. Pat insisted that we take good care of her house--we always take our shoes off at the door, and we only colored in certain places, while being watched. Everything was so beautiful--done in soft grays and peaches. The carpet was always really clean and plush, and she had a big glass coffee table that always threatened to bonk the babies noggin's.

Sometimes, us four would go over to her house to spend the night--she would set up a big pallet on the floor in her room and we would all watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or California Raisins until we fell asleep.

Down the hall, they had a toy room, and then the exercise room--in the exercise room, they had one wall that was entirely made up of mirrors, which was so much fun to see!