My friend, Angie called me to say she had someone cancel on her and she could use a couple hours of help at an estate sale she was running.
(304 E 11th Street in Ottawa, half price on Saturday the 19th)
While there were plenty of vintagey goods, practical items, and tons of tools for sale, the star of the day was the house itself.
Throughout the day, I explored all of the excellently preserved details of this pristine old house. It made me feel nostalgic for my mom’s house in Sioux City, IA. Hers was from the same era and style, also had that great woodwork and arched entryway doors.
Mom’s home didn’t have the original potties, though. This house had delicious tiling and the baths were updated but not gutted and redone. The rose and black might have been my fave.
(Delicious might not be a good word to describe a bathroom, but, honestly, that color is pretty dang tasty!)
But, no maybe this room is my favorite color combo- the soft green with a hint of lilac? How springy and delightful!
The woodwork throughout was magnificently crafted too. And filled with French doors. My mother took her French doors off and stored them in the basement for some odd reason. Maybe so my crazy, wild boys wouldn’t ride a tricycle through them.
They weren’t the only kids raised in that place, it was also the childhood home of Ann Landers and Dear Abby. I have a feeling the advice sisters weren’t as rambunctious as my kiddos, but then not many were.
Luckily, this was marked NFS, or it would’ve been in the back of my pickup, and I do not need it.
I sure WANT it.
The basement was filled with the original workings of the old place, and that again brought back memories of Mom’s house on Nebraska Street. There was a laundry chute here just like the one my sons threw all of their toys down.
Visions of two year old Adam dropping trucks down onto four year old Ryan’s head in the basement were bittersweet. And I laughed out loud with tears in my eyes as I recalled running down the hall and screaming, “Noooo! The dog cannot go down the chute!” Just in time to save that poor little schnauzer.
It has been a rough week for me, I definitely needed this day out to work with Angie. The added bonus of spending the day in a home that brought so many forgotten times rushing back was good..
May is coming up, and it is filled with land mines for my heart. My birthday and Mother’s Day were dates that Ryan never failed to make me feel treasured on.
Then the end of May brings the anniversary of his death.
It is still April, but the mere thought of May has been wringing tears out of me while anticipating the calendar page about to turn.
And horrifically, some dear friends recently lost their son. I spent a week making a journal/album for him and feeling their pain with each drop of glue I used.
On top of that, I’ve had someone I trust turn on me and flip my view of our relationship up and twist it around.
Memories can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. All I can do for now is roll with the emotions, enjoying the stories that play in my mind while missing my boy.
Bad things happen, sadness continues to occur, but I need to hang out to those good memories and think about those funny little boys with the giant pile of toys under the laundry chute in the basement.
Or I will never survive this. Those memories need to be my lifeline.
You took wonderful photos of that pretty house’s details. The tile! My heart goes out to you, Karla, as you come up on a year from your loss. Just keep taking one day at a time, one breath at a time, and love all the years of Ryan that you have now to remember.
Hi Karla. Was thinking of you and had just checked my calendar….
Loved the pictures of the old house! Glad it eased your thoughts a bit and brought back sweet memories.
Loved the pictures of the old house. I understand how you dread the month of May. Every family death has taken place in February. So I hate February. But I seem to survive it every year. I have no doubt you will survive Ma. But you don’t have to like it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!