Our House
We bought our house in 1971.
We had two children and needed a house with three bedrooms. It was a little run down but ticked all the boxes . Off the road, had a garden of sorts, near good schools, buses and shops. We could just about afford it if my husband worked six and a half days a week. So we moved in with not much furniture.
Our children ran around exploring all the rooms and the garden and other children living nearby. We hired a rotavator to even out the garden as it had never been cultivated; bought some grass seed and attempted to make a lawn, which for years had bald patches due to games of cricket and my sons obsession with digging holes. (We were convinced he would be an archaeologist)
A year after moving in we had a new arrival to our family, a baby girl, so we now had two girls and a boy. The house was in dire need of repair so after much pleading with my husband we took out a second mortgage. Money now was going to be really tight. As my husband worked all hours, bless him, I took on the house maintenance the children, the garden and part time work. (what was I eating to have the energy I had then ?) I remember the time I was painting the hall and stairs and the ladders wouldn’t reach the ceiling, so I stood on the banister, tied myself to the bedroom door and pirouetted to reach the area. (can you believe it!?) The courage we have when we are young.
We had a holiday every year; Dad would save all his small change in a jar and share it between the children and they loved it. The walls of our house have been every colour of the rainbow as have the carpets. Yes, I have made mistakes that we have had to live with till funds allowed us to change them.
Then came our children’s teenage years. The house rang with all kinds of music, door keys were lost on an almost weekly basis, door knobs fell off. Things got broken or went missing and Mr Nobody was always the culprit! Then, the children started leaving home getting married etc. We can now afford new furniture carpets and the garden looks lovely. We have a lull; a quiet phase. But not for long … new occupants arrive; the darling grandchildren!
Once more the house is invaded with our children, their partners and the next generation. Out come old toys the Wendy house, sticky fingers. The house is alive once more.
Then suddenly you are old; my husband no longer knows who we all are.(Alzheimer’s) The silent thief of memory…..The mood of the house changes things have to be altered to accommodate this intruder. All that gave our home its soul is lost. The house once more falls into disrepair. The silent thief eventually takes everything. Now I am alone in this house that has witnessed many things. Once again my love for this house finds a way to bring her up to date. New kitchen bathroom central heating. The small bedroom is now my computer room … I never ever thought I would master one! Such luxury.
Friends have often come to stay over. The house is now occupied by me a singleton, an OAP as we are called. The garden I have tended for many years is getting too big for me to manage, and the maintenance too expensive . Mr Nobody has gone elsewhere. It’s time to move on to a smaller place but to leave this house that echoes in every room my family life for over forty years will surly pull at the heart strings ………….Its time for that old spirit of mine to rise up again. It may be the winter of my life but a home maker I have always been. I’m looking forward to house hunting again a house to make a home in with some pots for flowers. Best if its a bungalow I think my pirouetting painting days are best left in the past
Think I might get a kindle…………….
Written by: Mary Rothera
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