Home

My parents lived in the same house my entire childhood. My Mom still lives there. We lived inside the city limits and owned 3 lots (although with a town of 105, I'm not sure that really counts as "city living"). The house sits on the first lot. It has changed colors over the years. I believed it started out red, then was painted green, then finally they updated to gray vinyl siding. It also had an addition built on in the 70's when my two younger sisters came along. That added a larger bedroom, half bath, and a walk-in closet. The second lot started out as a big garden, but later it was for the swingset that Dad made for the grandkids, as well as a carport for the extra vehicles. The single car garage/shop separates these two lots. It was common knowledge that when you pulled in the drive, you didn't pull up too far because Dad wanted to be able to see the kids playing on the swingset from the patio. The third lot used to hold the other garden (or small field as Tim use to call it). Dad would bring the tractor in town and disc the two gardens each summer and spread manure, getting them ready for the growing season. The rest of the lot was used for neighborhood games of baseball, kickball, volleyball, football, frisbee and kite flying. The big tree held the tire swing. When my brothers got older, they bought a trailer and moved it to that lot. Now they have a house that sits there.
The lazy days of summer were spent riding my bike all over town, playing with the neighbor kid. Most of the time the bikes were motorcycles and we were Evel Knievel. Winters were spent on the snowmobile with my brother, sledding down hills in a close by field, and building forts. When I was a teen most evenings were spent at the park with the radio blasting, while we played basketball, volleyball, or tennis. Summers were spent at the lake. It was a good childhood.
When I had kids of my own, I could still bring then "home". Dad would grill hamburgers and hotdogs, and take the kids to the farm for hayrides or to ride the 4-wheeler. It was a little bit of my childhood that I got to share with my kids.
With Dad gone, things are different. The location is still the same, but "home" doesn't feel like "home" anymore. I miss it.