Friday, March 4, 2011

"Cleaning" the Farm




After dropping Keree off at school, we ran a few errands before picking her up. Right as I was heading in to pick her up, the phone rang. I let it go to voicemail because you can't talk on the phone while in the school. So after I collected Keree and read the summary, which said that they worked in their journals (yet again), sang the ABC song (seriously...such a basic song) and worked on writing their names (which didn't apply to Keree since she already knows how to write it). I listened to my voicemail after hooking Keree in her carseat and it was from my Uncle T. He wanted me to come up to my Grandparents farm, since he is cleaning it out. Which I hate the whole "cleaning" word because these are my Families memories and traditions that will be donated. He offered for me to come up on either today or Saturday, so I thought, we better go today because he's know for changing his mind. I was heading up there, when I called him back. When we got there, I told Keree she had to be on her very best behavior and not talk. See this is the same Uncle who's ignored Keree completely and literally hasn't spoken to her at all. I'm mean, honestly, he's seen her at my Great-Aunt's birthday party and no acknowledgement and then at my Grandma's visitation and funeral, he didn't say anything then to her either. As we walked in, he was very welcoming and I've got to say it was weird to be there. It looked like the Farm house, just the closest were bare and all the paperwork they always had laid out wasn't there. What shocked me the most, is when he engaged Keree in conversation. He asked her how school was, how old she was, he treated her like she mattered, like she really is a member of our family. It was weird. While my Uncle walked me around, my Mom and Keree waited downstairs. I was surprised at how open my Uncle was, he gave me my Grandma's wedding dress and the Maid of Honor dress she wore for my Great-Aunt's wedding (which I didn't know that existed). Now there were a few things when I was growing up, I really, really wanted and had asked that when they died, if I could have them. My Grandma always told me "No" they were to be passed down to her daughter or her sons. See my Grandma didn't consider me, her granddaughter because I didn't come from her daughter's womb. Yep, my Grandma was nuts. But after my Grandpa died, the family basically blew up and we were basically the only ones who came to visit her, other than my Uncle. So when my Uncle offered up the Engagement present my Grandpa bought for my Grandma, I about burst into tears. I had thought about those lamps, dreamed about the lamps and knew the story behind them. My Grandpa paid $35 for the set, which was amazing because that was a ton of money back in the day. I claimed quite a few pieces of furniture, even though I don't have room for them but some of the pieces date back to the late 1800's and early 1900's and belonged to my Great-Great and Great-Grandparents. I didn't have alot of room in the van, because I was still loaded from our last show but I was able to take a few things. My Uncle let me take my Grandma's mixer, most of her pots, pans, cups and plates. Because he had to leave by a certain time, we cut our visit short. He said I could come back up the next day, so I'm looking forward to being able to go through some more stuff. When we were driving home, I was still amazed that he gave me my Grandma's wedding dress and the Engagement gift. Since it was cold and late, we decided to pick up pizza for dinner. When we got home, we unloaded the car, so we could pack easier tomorrow. We spent the rest of the evening resting because we were all exhausted. I especially was exhausted both mentally and physically.

No comments:

Post a Comment