As I mentioned in the previous post, my Dad is moving out of this area to Elizabethtown. We will also soon be moving out of this area, not being sure if we will ever call it our "home" again...These seasons of change have brought a lot of reason for pause and reflection around the many years we have shared this area as our home. (close to 30 for me and over 25 for Jared) It is also amazing how the three homes in which I lived with my parents in this area can all be driven by easily and while there are memories, both the physical changes of those places and the ways in which my family's life has dramatically changed are very poignant. As Jared drove me by the "farm" my family rented, brought to life and called home for 10 years, I was so struck by how difficult it is to construct the memories without my beloved family around me, and the barn, silo, and fields gone for the most part...there is a good deal of sadness and actual grieving as I think of my Dad leaving this area and signaling the "end of an era" where he and my Mom raised a family...I have to believe that I am better for walking through these memories and that in getting in touch with my sadness, I will be more whole for the life ahead for our own little family and the "home" we will make until the Lord calls us Home.
My mother-in-law, JJ and James at Freddy Hill farms. The owner's of the farm were in 4-H with my siblings and I. Being there and smelling the farm were certainly a part of the Memory Lane visit for me.
I love this picture of James. He is actually looking at a peacock which we didn't have on our Dairy Farm, for sure.Jared's parents owned this house and raised their sons here, only moving after Jared had begun college. As a family, we were able to walk around the property. Jared's mom had heard that it would be torn down, however two neighbors to the home discounted that. Thank goodness because I think it is beautiful.
I like this picture of Jared and Jason walking in front of their old house. I think of how they played in front as boys and now they are there as grown men who are wonderful fathers and husbands.
I know my mother-in-law reads this blog (Thanks Mom!) I hope that when she sees this picture, her heart leaps for joy to think of what two amazing sons she had such a huge part in raising right in the house on whose steps they sit.
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2 comments:
Abby! This post made me cry! There is always a bittersweet feeling when I return to the Souderton, PA area! Since my parents live so close to EMC, last summer we took the kids to play there. What a flashback! Even though some of the playground equipment is new, they still have some of the things from when I was a kid!
And I always get a pit in my stomach when we drive by the old Agway where my mom grew up and I played as a kid (on Shelly Road, by the "newer" Landis Market). I so wish I could walk around inside that house! (it's been rented, the last I've been there).
Once you move to Florida, I think you will see what an odd feeling it is to return "home" . . . there is a comfortableness there that I've never found anywhere else. I think I still think of PA as home (and have never *really* considered Utah home, as odd as that may sound).
Anyway, great post!!
love you!!
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Beautiful post! I'm glad I found your blog through Sarah's. It will be fun keeping up with your family through this!
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