This was my grandparents’ house—rather, what’s left of it—in Eastern Kentucky, where I spent my first couple of years. They moved here some time in the 40′s when my mother was just a girl. Years later, she married and had me, but soon after she and my father (not the same father who brought me up and whom I lost a year ago) parted ways. I stayed here with my grandparents while she moved to Washington, DC, to look for work, and he continued his tour of duty in the Air Force in Korea. And such was life until circumstances caused me to be whisked away to Virginia and a new life… .
We returned to the house every summer for the family reunion, so I was never too far removed from my grandparents or their rustic lifestyle. Milking cows, hauling coal, pumping water, churning butter, robbing bees, wringing chickens’ necks, slaughtering hogs, trips to the outhouse and bathing out of a wash pan…it all proved to be a hard life for my grandparents, though an adventure for young me. Of course there were easier times, too…swinging on the porch swing, playing checkers, riding the workhorses Bess and Belle, listening to the Reds game on a transistor radio, picking blackberries for an after-dinner cobbler… . I think I have just as many memories of life here as I do of life in Virginia.
Decades later, though, after my grandparents were gone, a family dispute led to an auctioning off of the house and its land. Other relatives ended up with all but a few acres that were given to my parents when they moved here from Virginia in the 70′s.
So, here the old house now sits, dilapidated and abandoned in all but the hearts of those who know and still love it.
It’s the house that lies at the end of the road here…it’s over there, on the right… .
(Ack. I didn’t realize until after I posted this that I had posted the photo on December 16, hence ‘Old Kentucky Home II’ here. This post, at least, gives you a bit of history. Sorry ’bout that!)
Grace
T
8noodles
justin
YogaforCynics
I’ll be honest I can’t even imagine living that way – I am such a city girl!
Grace´s last blog post ..Maybe tomorrow
Ha! I probably couldn’t imagine it either, but having experienced it when I was young, it’s no big deal. I’m a city girl, too, though. Have been for a long while!
Cool! I like the old country house feel, it looks like there’s a lot of history in it.
Jupiter´s last blog post ..Saturday’s Shabu-Shabu
Hi Jupiter, and yeah, I guess there is a lot of history there, although I’m not privy to all of it. It definitely has that “old” feel, especially since it’s been abandoned for so long. :o(
I have a short memory sometimes so I didn’t remember seeing the picture before and I enjoyed the story that went along with it.
Why is it that some families feel the need to fight over possessions when someone dies. I’ve heard about some awful family feuds over estates
ann´s last blog post ..Weekend part 2
I think I auto-posted this once when I was out of town, but had decided not to include the story. Forgot all about that. Yeah, this feud went on for years and really got to some who were involved. Oh well, at least some got what they wanted (I think).
Sweet and sad at the same time. I could sit and look at old houses like this for hours.
Bossy Betty´s last blog post ..Poetry Tuesday- Lost by David Wagoner
It is, Betty. There are so many memories of here. :o( I do like old houses of all sorts…like to wonder who lived there…what went on in them.
Twitter: bertskibooks
It reminds me of the Waltons!
Roberta´s last blog post ..
Ha! I can definitely see that, Roberta! I’m imagining the music now… :o)
Now it’s all just a memory…but life goes on no matter what.
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