55 years ago today

55 years is how long my grandparents have been married as of today. And they looked good, real good. And happy.

You look around the ‘brunch’ table and it’s no wonder why. Lots to be thankful for.

And there’s the house. Kates had never been there and I couldn’t recall being there since I was in junior high.

Yeah, so I’m nostalgic. But this house is such a reminder of simpler times, it could have easily appeared in an episode of ‘American Dreams.’ It’s 50 years old, but almost nothing about it has changed. It’s the same brick ranch that my grandpa and his cohorts erected on what was then a lonely field that offered unending views of Lake Michigan. Now the view is gone and it’s a full-fledged neighborhood, and there’s still not a garage on the property.

Past the backyard that once seemed as big as a football field, you still walk in the back door, greeted by a kitchen with light-colored cabinets and silver handles. Totally ‘50s. In the living room, there’s the huge picture windows and the floor to ceiling fireplace framed with white brick and a large clock. To my surprise, however, Grandma has replaced the 14 pictures of her grandchildren with old black and whites of her and grandpa’s families.

Ah, but the the graduation pictures of my mother and her five brothers and sisters still hang in the hallway. Which, of course, evokes the commentary from my mother and her sister detailing the time when the eight people living in that house had to share one bathroom. Oh, the wars they must’ve had getting ready for church every Sunday morning.