I posted this photo among several others on a blog post earlier in the month.
Kathleen commented: "I especially enjoyed the photo of the briars and weeds with the old home in the background."
I took that photo from our lane that runs up to the house my daughter lives in. The one that used to sit next to our old barn. The one that collapsed in the great hailstorm of 2008.
This story of the barn is in a book called Michigan's Heritage Barns.
We had to have it bulldozed and buried.
The "old home" in the photo up top sits just down the drive from this house, what we call the big house.
I'd like to snoop around inside, but my husband does not believe it would be safe. It will probably fall down soon.
As will the smaller house next to it. Both part of the original centennial farm.
But that old home up top? It didn't start out as a house.
My husband's great-grandfather gave that little piece of land to a small congregation as long as they used it for a church.
How cool to have a church right on your property?
My husband attended there until his family transferred to the "big church" in town.
He tells of stuffing his friend Kenneth's toy tractor into the basement drain and wonders if that's what caused the water to keep backing up down there afterwards.
The congregation eventually built a new building across the road. I don't know if it was my husband's fault.
My sister-in-law stored antiques in the old church for a little while before it became a home for several different families.
That building won't last forever, either, and I doubt very many know the history.
But we do, because the stories have been passed down verbally and in writing.
I'm fascinated with old ruins and always wonder about their history--whether anyone has preserved it in some form.
And then I remember that we, too, are wasting away, and our physical buildings will one day be nothing but dust.
I like to believe our past enriches our future and the future of those who come after.
So the question is--are we preserving our stories?
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6 comments:
Lovely.
And so true. So true.
Linda
I was just doing some free writing this afternoon, remembering that my grandmother's family had donated property to build the old Swedish church in the town where she lived. I wish I knew more of that story. Sadly, most of those who knew the details are gone.
Sigh. :(
I have to dig more into my husband's maternal grandmother's story. She apparently fled Sweden as a young girl and came here as a nanny because her aunt (whom she lived with) was a madam or something over there.
We no longer own this part of the farm. Made me sad when his folks sold it.
If old buildings could talk, think of the tales they could tell.
Old buildings are so much more than just buildings, aren't they? I love to think of the families that made them into homes, the lives that blossomed into generations. Sadly, much of my family's history wasn't preserved, but I'm doing my best to record as much as I can remember for our childrenl
Thanks for sharing your stories. That is why i began writing blog. one of the purpose is to share my life also to the next generation especially my grabdchildren, so that they can get to know me better.
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