My sister and I grew up in Northwest Florida and called it home for over 25 years. However, unbeknownst to us, dad made a promise to our mother many years ago that when we were grown and gone, they could move back home to Louisiana.
Five years ago this summer, he made good on his word.
What he didn't realize was how traumatic that move would be for his daughters. Sure, Chrissy and I have lived in other cities and states, but we've always called 8 Lakeview Drive home. After all, that is where we grew up, where our bedrooms were always waiting on us, where our pets lived, where we celebrated holidays and where Santa never failed to visit.
I have so many memories of that subdivision off of Highway 98. There was never a shortage of girls to play with, day or night. Thoughts of pool parties, roller skating, games of hide and seek, the two story tree house my daddy built in the back yard, and the good old fashion metal swing set (that may have caused a few of us to get tetanus shots) just make me smile.
The teen years came along and our friendships grew stronger as we ventured into cheerleading, homecomings, boyfriends and driver's licenses.
Like the Miranda Lambert song, "this was the house that built me".
It makes me sad that there aren't endless sidewalks like we had when I was younger and the world doesn't seem as safe as it was when Nic, Steph and I would hop on our bikes and ride around the block for hours on end.
How could mom and dad want to live anywhere else?
Apparently they can and did. They moved EIGHT HOURS AWAY!!
Now that mom and dad are retired they come visit Chrissy and me more than we go to them, but at least twice a year we visit 143 Jack Drive and strangely enough, it's starting to feel like home.
(Minus the emerald green carpet and avocado green kitchen and bath.)
I digress.
Anyway, my parents decided to build their dream house and found the plans and specifications from a Southern Living magazine. I don't know why, but this little fact just makes me smile. They thought through everything for their new home and it is beautiful.
Chrissy and I each have a bedroom that we laid claim to the moment we saw the floor plans. My room growing up had pink flowered wallpaper, antique furniture and a cradle that my grandfather made. Here is my room in Louisiana:
To me this is still the most beautiful room in the world with the light pink walls, the quilt my great grandmother made, the white matelasse duvet cover, and the breathtaking four post mahogany bed. You can even see a peek of my old wooden rocking horse in the corner.
Mom was able to class up Chrissy's bedroom in the new house. My sister was and still is very independent and has always had a flare for design. Growing up, she had a waterbed, an old whiskey barrel that she used as a bedside table, a shelf full of stuffed animals, glowing stars on the ceiling and a stash of candy that she kept under her bed.
Sheer brilliance.
Here's her Louisiana bedroom:
The waterbed was traded in for a white wrought iron bed and the whiskey barrel was replaced with mom's old sewing machine table.
I'm glad to report that Chrissy's taste has matured and her own home is beautiful. There is not a waterbed, glowing star or whiskey barrel in site.
This whole post started because my sister and I went to visit mom and dad last week and it was then that I realized...everything about 143 Jack Drive felt like home.
Daddy still has his old recliner, Community coffee still brews every morning, the theme song for ABC news can be heard at 5:30 every evening, followed by the local news and then Wheel of Fortune.
There are even chimney swifts that sing their sweet songs in this chimney. (I asked dad how they got the birds to move with them and he said that the birds were the only relatives given a forwarding address.)
There are even chimney swifts that sing their sweet songs in this chimney. (I asked dad how they got the birds to move with them and he said that the birds were the only relatives given a forwarding address.)
Mom and dad's room is still where we gather before bed just to talk about the day and our baby pictures still have their place on the wall.
There is still a black lab and two cats roaming around. Not the same one's as when we were kids, but the same ratio. It's so funny because mom and dad have never bought an animal, but if one "goes to a better place" then another one just seems to show up.
When I think of my childhood home, I will always think of the ivy covered house on Lakeview Drive. But after this weekend, Jack Drive felt like home to me.
Side note: I walked down the isle to meet my groom to the song "Feels Like Home", which is fitting because Barney and I are now starting to create memories of our own in our new home.
