Bev & Cam’s Home
This is the home of my grandparents on my mom’s side. We spent a lot of time with them since we lived in the same town most of my youth. This is the home they lived in until I was about 8. I can still recognize the smell of the evergreen bushes outside their front porch. I am transported to their doorstep every time and it will forever bring a smile to my face.
Their home was a happy place to be. We had many Christmas Eves and Christmas mornings in their home. My grandpa had a tradition of driving us around on Christmas Eve to look at the lights around town and then back home to hear him read “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
We had summer BBQs and birthday parties on their covered patio. We also had sleepovers with cousins, stayed up late to raid the kitchen for pickles and in the morning walked to the 7-11 convenient store that was around the corner. They also had a swimming pool. We would bring friends over to swim and pretend we were on the “Love Boat.” My grandpa always did fireworks by the pool on the Fourth of July. The reflection of them in the pool was more exciting than watching them in the air.
We made tulips out of the colored egg cartons and used the pipe cleaners as the stems.
He built a hobby shop in their backyard. He had a miniature town and train set that he worked on and created many wood projects. He made a bookshelf that my mom and dad still have in their home. He and my grandma also liked to carve animals out of wood and paint them. My mom gave me his wood tools when he died. I’ve tried to whittle something, but it is actually very difficult!
My grandma was also very creative and was the first to teach me how to craft with pipe cleaners. We made tulips out of the colored egg cartons and used the pipe cleaners as the stems. She was very talented with all forms of art–painting, sewing, crocheting, anything craft related. I still have many of her gifts and projects—a yellow gingham cloth doll, a blue beaded Christmas ornament, a crocheted doll blanket, a felt sequined 12 Days of Christmas tree skirt and many more!
A German soldier painted it for him…
My grandpa worked for the military institute in town. He also went there as a teenager. He was in World War II and received a Purple Heart for his injuries. My mom has a painting of my grandpa in his military uniform that used to hang in their home and now in hers. A German soldier painted it for him when they were both recovering in the hospital in Germany.
My grandma was a homemaker. We spent almost every day with her. We would go to the drug store and buy candy, craft stores for our projects and mostly just hang out with her. I have memories of her baking and can still picture the layout of her kitchen. Another vivid memory was of her sitting in her orange and brown velvet striped rocking chair. She read or did her crossword puzzles with their dog right beside her.
I loved cutting and gluing the paper shapes for their home. Putting the “B” on was my favorite part. It stands for their last name. When they moved, they put the “B” on their new home. I love all the wonderful memories that flooded back of being with them–some I didn’t even remember until I had the chance to reflect on this beautiful home of theirs.
