Some people say home is where the heart is and that a house is just a building. Yet you are a special place, a place that has housed so many years and memories. You have sheltered us for almost 10 years now, you are one of us.
Do you carry the memories as we do? Have your walls absorbed the voices of our past? As I begin to box up my things of years, I look back with fondness, joy, sadness, and exasperation upon my time with you.
You were a large place: drafty and cold in winter; hot and uneven in summer. Your extra girth allowed me to foster my addiction for fostering wayward souls. Taking in so many when they needed, growing my family beyond its blood ties. Seriously, what would life be without Sparkles and Lloyd in it?
Such lovely holidays we shared: Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Happy Stick Day and 4th of July. Special occasions too–birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, births, and engagements. You gave as a place to re-group and focus during difficult times too—unhappy stick day, loss of jobs, strokes, near death experiences and sickness. You were always the center, the meeting place, our tether.
I think of the big things and the little things. Sometimes they pour over me in a rush and others times they trickle in slowly. I remember Bear in elementary school, adjusting so well, earning Citizen of the Month and performing with her violin in 5th grade orchestra. Her many, many friends always jumping on the trampoline. The years of being the Girl Scout “Cookie Momster”, then becoming a leader for her troop. Of teaching catechism and meeting friends along the way.
I see so much of MacDougal’s life reflected in your windows. Touch football, basketball in the driveway, young boy’s so envious of his bond with his father. Growing from young man to adult. High school graduation, illness and rebirth, learning the frailty of human kind and meeting the woman who will become his wife.
Nanny goat’s life whistles through your halls. Love and struggle, a graduation we dreamed of, drama and comedy, of leaving and finding your way home again, engagements, weddings and precious miracle babies.
I see great laughter and joy. I see struggle and sorrow. A moment standing in your front yard with the towering pines above me and my family surrounding me, determined yet desperate with worry about a new baby who clings to life.
You brought us many people. Some who have stayed in our lives and some who have not. You gave us neighbors: crazy ones, druggie ones, angry ones, Canadian ones, toilet papered ones, needy ones and giving ones.
You gave us irony: A Cinco de Mayo which was so horrendous and violent, but eventually led to a Happy Stick Day in which we laughed and laughed at the man swinging at the missing piñata while blindfolded. Days and days of working to get the motorcycles ready for riding, and a day when a motorcycle caused a policeman to almost arrest my innocent son.
Ah so much, much more….but I think I will let the others add. Let this be our tribute to you, house on honey water.
April 11, 2007 at 10:17 am
Well, that made me cry…..anyways….will get back to you on the memory when I am not sobbing uncontrollably…
April 11, 2007 at 12:11 pm
*sniffle sniffle* “what? Me crying, hell no! Real men don’t cry! There was something in my eye……thats all”
And as far as the memory thing…….you have awoken the beast. I remember all!
~ The noise of the platypus echoing through the pool room.
~ The foreigners attack on our domestic van.
~ The skateboard transmission replacement.
~ The robbed shaggin’ wagon.
~ The fixed only to break again Hyundai.
~ The broken arms/scooter fall story that never ended.
~ The summer where it seemed like the boys couldn’t move without putting a hole in a wall.
~ The great possum war.
~ The beautiful stained glass window that was attacked by a Canadian scooter then a wayward softball.
~ The great hamster escapes.
~ The microwave/doorbell imitating bird that also loved to make Bear answer the phone.
~ The birth of the greatest song ever written……..the rolly-polly song.
~ The five deaths of spike.
~ The balcony flute concert used to retrieve the lost dogs.
~ The crushed thumbs, broken toes, road-rashed knees, bolted knees, flu, mental breakdowns, mono-leaky-locusts, battered legs, poisoned blood, uti’s, chipped teeth, kidney infections, trampoline falls, bb welts, thrown out backs, pinched nerves, non existent blood pressure disorders, mental breakdowns, anxiety attacks, sprained ankles, bad ass sun burns, gangrene, strokes, sprained ankles, jammed fingers, and of course more mental breakdowns…………and a special thanks to band-aids, ice packs, splints, casts, wheelchairs, aloevera, glucophage, lisinopril, lithium, ritalin, paxil, lipitor, cipro, vicodin, prozac, codeine, zoloft, percocet and of course midol.
~ And leader of all things that went bump in the night……. Chief Squanto.
There’s a lot more, but I’ll leave some to the rest of you.
April 11, 2007 at 12:54 pm
here’s a few more…
how about the time the neighbors had the police at their house because some girl “got whatever wacky story i could think of” and i was hiding around the corner leaning back in the chair so as to remain “unseen” fell over, knocked the sprinkler head off and got sprayed right up my butt….
or when jason used to hide under a pile of clothes in chris’s room.
or when the pile of trash generated between chris and kyle when they sat at their computers all day could have taken over the enitire house
many trips down to the kitchen for huge plates of nachos and pepsi, then later, diet pepsi
the night kaymay started crawling and we stayed up half the night sitting in the living room making her crawl back and forth while we filmed her from every angle with every camera digital camera or movie camera we had…
the time dad sat in his chair and slept….wait, was there a time that this ever wasn’t the case?
all of the times we would ask dad what was happening in the show he was obviously sleeping through and we would get these incredible stories about aliens and machine guns…
all the parties we’ve had and every area of the house that has been thrown up on; the front porch, the bushes, the backyard, all three toilets, both bathtubs, the sink in the kitchen, the sink behind the bar, the sink in the bathroom, the couch (pumpkin contributed as well), the floor, everywhere in the backyard and side yard, in every pot in our cabinets, and of course the time the chick puked in chris’s bed…
there are so many more…i could probably think of more later.
April 11, 2007 at 2:32 pm
– The time nanny goat didn’t understand the dynamics of a scope and left that poor dove spouse-less forever.
– The time Loyd was crushed against the wall as a drugged Mr.Vixen fell down the stairs.
– The time Mr. Vixen’s favorite dog took on a rattlesnake and a coyote and now walks like the floor is sloping to the left.
– The time ladybug put the cue ball in her father’s pocket and was lost for weeks.
– The door in the kitchen which will be stolen as the farkles leave this residence.
– The beautiful cover of queen’s “bohemian rhapsody” as performed by Mr. Vixen.
– Mr. Vixen’s ever growing skill in egg hiding.
– The string that led nanny goat to the soon to be broken hyundai on her birthday.
– The fact that nanny goat was wearing an elmo hat on that birthday long before the arrival of ladybug.
– The time a string was again used to lead to a present and the lady up the street came walking down while balling up our strategically placed string.
April 11, 2007 at 8:24 pm
How about the time McDougall molested that girl up the street
All the puppies- Diablo and Brownie 2
-R.I.P Kiki and Dutchie
or when the fat man sat on my windshield and i crashed into a parked car
April 11, 2007 at 9:54 pm
I think its time to bring on the good ones
-Tramp wars and airsoft battles
-Being the definition of drive way trash
-Sleep walking adventures
-Staying up until the sun comes out
-Raccoons in the trees
-Living on the front porch
-Always having a home cooked meal
-The wonderful music that was created and played
-RC cars and helicopters from hell
-picking out the glass from my back window
-“fixing up” or “restoring” or “customizing” anything with a motor
-Operation blame Canada 1 and 2.0
-Drunken Easter egg painting
-Sleeping in a huge tent in the back yard with a TV and 35 pounds of candy that Jason would not share
-Searching for hidden Pepsi’s and Doral’s
-settling disputes with airsoft guns or wrestling
-yelling at Chris to go to school(2 feet away) in the morning
-Puking in the front yard
-Badminton competitions
-Pool time
-smoke breaks
-Reaching into a dead possums pouch to pull out baby possums
-Owl screeching and me jumping 25 feet into the front door
-Sweet go kart action
-sitting on the balchony and watching devin run up the street barefoot cause he just crashed his parents car into a tree
April 12, 2007 at 10:17 am
How about all those times that Macdougal/Mr. Vixen, then Macdougal/Sparkles and then Macdougal/Lloyd put up Christmas lights on the slippery roof.
April 12, 2007 at 10:48 am
How about six car accidents just in front of this house.
1- Funsize hit the parked car
2- Sparkles hit the Buick
3- Nanny goat hit the suburban
4- Mr. Vixen hit fishboy’s car
5- Travis hit nanny goat’s car
6- And “someone” hit the Buick again.
April 12, 2007 at 11:25 am
car crashes
7-some lady hit the back of the escort while Lloyd had stopped at the new stop sign right there
April 12, 2007 at 11:30 am
STOP SIGN? There is a STOP sign in front of our house? Strange, no one ever stops there.
Hey remember that time there were undercover detectives up in the trees watching Macdougal and Midget?
April 12, 2007 at 11:30 am
some more car related memories
-Shagin’ wagon get window busted out and crap stolen out of it
-Grants car gets broken into in same spot and wallet and stereo is stolen
-someone mysteriously pees all over short man shawns truck then proceeds to squirt taco bell sauce all over it
April 12, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Oh man, there are so many memories.
-The first time Macdougal and I really hung out. We jumped on the tramp for a while, before he upset me. Obviously, the only option was to go super saiyan on his ass. Too bad for me that doesn’t work in real life. In the end I was offered a Midol by Mrs. vixen and an escort to the front door.
-Any number of times I continued to believe I could go super saiyan. My favorite still being the time I tried it on the balcony and Mr. Vixen calmly reminded me that I was being annoying by yelling “Shut the fuck up you little shit!”
-TRUNKSSSSS!!!!!!!!!
-The many harmful things done to Truman. Ex-lax before his hour and a half drive to the canadian doctor. Piss in his hat. Any O.B.C.
Speaking of O.B.C., remember the third where Eric came driving up the street and we all hid? Then Jayme decided to go greet him. After some talking, he joined in on the fun by taking a crap in the neighbors yard. I’ll never forget that next morning when the three of us were playing basketball and she came up to us to ask if we knew who shit in her yard. After pointing out the possibility of it being an animal, she responded with “No…they wiped.”
-The time the Mexican threw my racquetball down the street and I stabbed him with a piece of bark.
-That summer where I couldn’t stop rubbing my nipples.
I’ll post more later, time to go cook some jeno’s pizzas. You know what I haven’t had in a while? My noodle specialty. I should have that again sometime.
April 18, 2007 at 7:33 pm
I hate to intrude, but, that was great!
April 18, 2007 at 9:58 pm
I bet anyone who doesn’t know our family thinks we are absolutely nuts!! Or maybe they have families like us too…here’s hoping…
; )
October 22, 2007 at 1:30 pm
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October 26, 2007 at 12:02 pm
[…] that we just moved a few months ago from a house we lived in for 10 years. I did a post about it here where I talked about our times and memories there. My son, Macdougal, did a lovely video montage […]