My Favorite House

This past Monday evening I attended a family reunion. Truthfully there are several family reunions on both sides of my family each summer but there is one in particular that I don't like to miss. This is the reunion for the posterity of Sam and Birdie Turner from Bluffdale Utah.

In my eyes there have never been two people who were more perfect than they were. I know that most kids think their grandparents are the best, but truly, my grandparents were incredible! If they were still alive today they would be 111 and 97. Grandpa died in 1983 with Grandma following in 1989. I have many wonderful memories from my childhood as a much loved grand-daughter of these two. They referred to me as their "Little Lellie". Sunday evenings there was never a question on where we would be....everybody went to Grandpa and Grandmas house. I remember sitting with the adults in the front living room of the house and listening to the stories of the past, recalling what was learned in church that day or just talking and laughing about anything. I remember dreaming of the day when I would be an adult just like all of them and specifically wanting to be just like my older married girl cousins who had children. I wanted so badly to be done with being a kid and wanted to be a mom and make sack lunches for my kids going to school - yes that is one memory I have, wanting to make sack lunches for my kids....????? Although I had lots of cousins there my age and younger, I loved to listen in on the adult conversation. You could guarantee that stories from Grandpa and Grandmas upbrining or early married years would be shared. What a rich heritage I have from both these two people and when visiting the town of Bluffdale where they were both raised, I think I am related to probably half the town.

Grandpa and Grandmas little white house with the red roof is still in the family to this day and it is used as a "starter" house for those grandkids/great grandkids who are just starting out. Unfortunately I never got to live in this favorite little house of mine because I was already grown and married before they both died. Even with the house being in the family I have not been in it for 10 plus years.

Every time we drive out to my sisters house we drive right past Grandpa and Grandmas house and I always point it out to the kids. The house still looks exactly the same but the fields and barns behind the house have since fallen or homes have been built in it's place. Grandpa had an incredible farm and what wonderful times I had as a little girl running through the fields and barns while playing with my cousins.

One specific memory I have as a child is wanting to taste of Grandmas special dark crunchy honey she had in the cupboard under her kitchen sink. The honey I had at my house wasn't like hers and didn't taste like hers either. I would have a spoonful or some spread on a slice of bread every time I visited. I didn't know until I was an adult that this wasn't any special kind of honey you could only find in specialty stores, it was honey that had gotten old and crystalized and turned dark. Grandma must of had a ton of it in her food storage though because there was never a shortage of this special honey. To this day, I still prefer my honey dark and crunchy!

I also have a memory of Grandpa and Grandmas bedroom. I always wanted a bedroom just like theirs when I grew up. It was pink and looked like a giant valentine. The carpet was pink with red and pink flowers if you can believe it and the twin beds had headboards that were crushed red velvet. Even the walls were pink. I'm beginning to think Grandmas favorite color was pink because even her white kitchen cupboards were trimmed in pink. I use to think the kitchen looked like a peppermint candy cane.

While at the reunion, the highlight of the night was that we were all going to go on a tour of Grandpa and Grandmas old house. One of my cute cousins Ashley and her husband Bret live there right now and were gracious to allow all of us to trample through. I was so excited to get there and when we arrived it was as if I had traveled back in time. Unlike a lot of older homes that get updated and remodeled, this house is still pretty much the same as the days it was lived in by Grandpa and Grandma and in incredible condition. Walking in the back door through the mud room it even smelled the exact same. Everyone has taken such good care of this special place out of respect for our grandparents. What a wonderful spirit I felt as I walked from room to room and remembered the memories of so long ago.

Grandpa and Grandma have always been close to my heart even after all these years. I have felt of their presence from time to time and I know without a shadow of a doubt that they have been there with me through times of trial and triumph. I have always tried to live up to their expectations and pattern my life after theirs. What true deciples of Christ they were and I look forward to the day that I can be with them again.

Though the walls aren't pink anymore, that wonderful carpet is still there!

The peppermint cupboards are still there but the special honey is not!

I finally have had that dream come true of wanting to be a mom just like my grown girl cousins and I am so glad I got to show my girls inside my favorite house! As for making sack lunches for the kids, that I found out wasn't all it cut out to be.....school lunch is much easier! :)