I so would love to be home one more time in my life when a few inches of snow is on ground....the photo below is of our childhood home. I can remember wishing we had ornaments to really decorate that blue spruce out front for Christmas. We were lucky to have any to go on our Christmas tree....let alone to decorate outside. We had a strand or two of the big multicolored lights and a few of the shiny ball ornaments...I don't ever remember getting to buy any new ones.
However, I can remember cutting a star out of cardboard and wrapping it in aluminum foil to put on the spruce...I think about this every year...and I never fail to think about how we saved wrapping paper from year to year. And I think of gathering pine cones and painting them with gold and silver paint. Thinking about that now, I would love to know where the paint came from and why we had it. It was in little bottles...maybe a couple inches tall. I wonder if they had been model paint...but even if they were, that still does not explain why we had them.
But don't feel sorry or sad for me...having a childhood like this has made even simple things so much more enjoyable. I buy a few new Christmas ornaments every year, and probably get twice the enjoyment from it that most people do.
Anyway, all that is going through my mind, and thinking how I have lived in the small town I live in now for 30 years...even with living here that long, Tennessee is still home.And I would love to go back to Tennessee to live, but I could never willingly move farther way from Lorelei....nor her mommy either. It is bad enough when the kids move away by choice or with work and jobs...but I don't think I could willingly move away from them. Our one daughter lives on the west coast, but at least we have hopes of her someday moving back closer to home.
Right now I get sort of teary-eyed after leaving Lorelei...she is such a bright part of our life. She is always so glad to see us...right now she is at the age where Mamaw and Papaw can do no wrong...and honestly she can't either;-)
You have such warm memories of your childhood, Rose. How great that is! I just bet you are passing all this warmth on to Lorelei...and that's fabulous!
ReplyDeleteYou really do have good memories and I love reading about them. Tennessee was our first choice of where to move, but then we would have been way too far from family. Where we picked is smack dab right in between our Minnesota grandchildren and our Illinois grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about grandparents and grandchildren doing no wrong :)
I just love Amy Grant, thanks for the song.
Thank you Rose, you have shared such vivid memories and brought back memories for me that are very similar, but mine are in PA. I love Amy Grant and her singing, thank you for that also! Have a wonderful week, and continue to cherish every minute with Lorelei, grandchildren are such blessings!
ReplyDeleteA beautiful, nostalgic paean to home and the values with which you were raised which, I think, have stood you in good stead in your life.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have much "stuff" growing up, either, but that did not diminish our happiness.
Sometimes today, with all the stuff available, we don't seem to be very happy. Maybe 'cause we always want more and more and more...and nothing is ever enough...
I don't know. But I loved reading your post and the photo!
I'll have to admit that we enjoy our Tennessee Christmases, although I don't think we've had a white one since we've been here.
ReplyDeleteYour post brought back many memories. When the kids were little they made aluminum-foil stars and painted pine cones to put on the tree.
Love this post, Rose. Is that a picture of your childhood home??? I think you said that it was... How special.... Love seeing the snow clinging on the evergreens.
ReplyDeleteI remember making stars out of cardboard and aluminum foil... We saved wrapping paper --and I still do... We also saved the icicles we used to put on our trees... (I don't use icicles anymore though.)
Love Amy Grant --and we hope to have a wonderful Tennessee Christmas HERE... Come and see us!!!!
Hugs,
Betsy
aawwww that was such a nice post. Sending you Christmas {{{Hugs}}} from me....
ReplyDeleteGill in Canada
Hi Rose...thanks for your comment on Cedar Key. There are two times a year that Cedar Key is overrun with people...the fall Seafood Festival and the spring Arts & Crafts Festival.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's fun to go and take pictures! But it is crowded!!!
Your childhood was clearly blessed. Your memories make you happy and, in truth, make a lot of your readers happy, too. That's blessings shared, which is even better. :)
ReplyDeleteNice post Rose. Maybe one day your Tennessee snow wish will come true.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the hardest parts of life is when your kids grow up and you don't always end up near them. Families seem to grow apart and there is often not the close relationships like there used to be before travel became so easy.
Oh Rose--aren't memories wonderful--good or bad they are all ours.
ReplyDeleteI remember Christmas morning and coming down the stairs and seeing the big tree---well my Mother informed me we had no stairs where I lived when I was little--but I remember them anyway. HA!! I must have seen a picture in a book and took it for mine. I remember making things for the tree and my kids did the same. It was so much fun to know we did it ourselves. I wouldn't trade it for anything. MB
I hope Sarah is doing well. MB
Even though we were poor and had to work like hard I still have a lot of good childhood memories. I can remember painting the pine cones also (probably lead paint) with either silver or gold paint. I remember stringing up popcorn on a sting to go around the tree inside. Ahh.... so many good memories.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the home you lived in as a child. I have so many good memories of childhood, too. It's hard to live far from family. I have so little family left and wish I saw them more often.
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