Memory Lane

When I was home in Beaumont my Grammy brought over a box of old family photos of her when she was a baby and of my Grandfather when they were first married. My Grandfather died of a heart attack when my mom was 5 years old and my Grammy was only 32 years old. She had 4 children at the time and I can't even fathom what she went through. She has been through so much and she will be the first to tell you that if it hadn't been for God's grace she couldn't have made it. She was a stay at home mom and was forced to go and get a job immediately in a day when women in the workplace was not the common. I remember her telling me that her boss told her, "You will not be able to use your children as an excuse for not being here." She did what she had to do and did a great job raising my mom and her brothers as a single mom.

It happened to be Fathers Day when she brought the pictures over and I mentioned that I had never been to my Grandfather's grave. We decided to go out to Port Neches and see it.

Grammy has her plot already reserved next to him which is sweet but a little weird to see her name on the gravestone.

My brother Glenn was named after my Grandfather and his birthday is on July 18 which is the day after my Grandfather died.

Since we were in the area, we drove by two of the homes Grammy and my Grandfather lived in in Nederland. My mom lived here when she was a baby to the time she was 3. My Grandfather had the carport turned into an extra room and it is still that way today.

My Grandparents built this house and this was the house my Grandfather lived in when he died. We sat outside the house and were talking about how we wish we could walk through it. I don't know what got into me but I went to the door and knocked and asked if we could see the house and told them the story about how my Grandparents had built this home 50 years ago and this was the home they lived in when my Grandfather died. An older couple lives there now and they were so sweet and let us come in and see the house. The wife said she would love to be able to go to the house she grew up in and see it so she understood. It was very emotional for my mom and Grammy. I can't imagine all the memories Grammy had there and my mom showed me her old room and much of the house still looked the same although Grammy was disappointed they changed the pink tiles in the master bath :) She was telling us before we went in that they had the most beautiful tile in both the bathrooms but her favorite was the master bath. I have to admit it was a very surreal experience. I kept thinking..these are the halls my Grandfather who I never got to meet walked through. This is the kitchen he cooked in. This is the door he walked out that morning going to work. It was sad but an experience I am grateful for. I am the only grandchild to have seen the inside of the house and most likely will be the only one. I wish I could have brought my camera in and taken pictures but I am sure the owners wouldn't have appreciated that. It would have been great to share the pictures with my uncles, aunts and cousins but maybe they can go by another time and see it. I am so grateful they let us come in and look around. It was extra special that it was on Fathers Day and I know it was sad but also good for Grammy and Mom to go back and see the house. I would love to go back and see the house I grew up in and maybe I will be able to do that one day.