Grandma D's House

Since my Grandma passed away this spring, my parents, aunts, and uncles have been busy going through her house and organizing her things.  Before a big estate sale, they invited everyone up to Grandma's house to see if there were any of her things we wanted.  Since my aunt is going to be moving into Grandma's house soon, I thought this would be the last time I visited "Grandma's House" so I took some pictures.

It has been a few years since my Grandma and Grandpa actually lived in this house, so it doesn't look as nice as it did when they were there.  When we used to come visit them here, that front planter was chock-full of red petunias.  Red was my Grandma's favorite color, and every year she planted a million petunias.  When we'd walk the length of the porch to the front door, the smell of petunias always greeted us.  To this day, I can't smell petunias without being taken back to Grandma's front porch.

Regarding the flowers out front, here is a conversation I had with Grandpa a few years ago when he called me in Michigan to wish me a Happy Mother's Day:

 I asked him how they were celebrating Mother's Day, and Grandpa told me that my aunts and uncles had all come up to their house the day before to help them get the yard and house cleaned up for spring.  He told me that my Aunt Julie had planted flowers out front and they looked really nice.

Me:  "Oh, that does sound nice.  What kind of flowers did she plant?"

Grandpa:  "I don't know."  (To my Grandma: "MAY, WHAT KIND OF FLOWERS DID JULIE PLANT?")

Grandma (off the line and from across the room):  mumble, mumble, mumble

Grandpa:  "She planted artificial flowers."

Me:  "Oh." (not sure what to say) "Well, I'm sure they are lovely."

It looks like those artificial flowers are still growing nicely in the front planter.

Here is the back of Grandma and Grandpa's house.  When I was younger, there was a HUGE willow tree in the yard about where I was standing to take the picture.  It was big enough to form a leafy umbrella over that swing set.  We would swing as high as we could and try to touch the leaves with our feet.  In our naughtier moments, we'd climb on the side of the swing set, grab a handful of willow branches, and swing from them, yelling like Tarzan.  We didn't go very far, usually just straight down to the ground, and we usually ended up with a bundle of broken willow tree branches clutched in our fists.  It was still fun, but probably led to the eventual demise and removal of that sweet willow tree.

I had to include a picture of the shed in the back yard.  This is where Grandpa kept all his gardening tools, and I was fascinated with this shed when I was little.  I wanted it to be a playhouse, but the few times I tried to make it into one, I was sadly disappointed.  This shed was amazingly hot in the summer with the sun beating down on it, so I couldn't stand to be inside for more than five minutes or so.

But, the shed wasn't all disappointment.  In addition to Grandpa's garden tools, this shed was home to three hula hoops and two 1950's style bicycles.  My cousins and I used to pull those hula hoops out on a sunny afternoon and have raging contests.  I hate to brag, but I must admit I got pretty good!  And the few times I rode the bikes were delightful.  With the springy seats and big puffy tires, those big 1950's style bicycles were a much smoother ride than my 10-speed back home.

I suppose that to the average observer, this little house in Brigham City, Utah doesn't look like much.  But, for me growing up, it was a wonderful place.  Because inside those brick walls lived two people who thought I could do no wrong.

And they never let me forget who loved me.