52 weeks of genealogy: week #4

Week 4: Home. Describe the house in which you grew up. Was it big or small? What made it unique? Is it still there today?

The very first house that I remember is one that we lived in out in the country. It was on a dirt road. Across the street and to the right of the house were woods that we used to live to explore in. In the back was a HUGE garden that my mom and dad planted vegetables in. If we were to walk up the road on the right about a half mile, we would get to our babysitters house. Her name was Janice and she lived there with her parents. Her daddy worked for the city and drove an orange truck, so whenever we saw an orange truck, we'd say, "There's Janice's daddy." If you were to walk up the road on the left, you would get to a big house that was owned by the man that owned our house. His name was Vernie. We lived there until I was seven and we moved to California. The one thing that I loved about that house was the long summer nights. We would lay out on the grass and catch fireflies. I loved it. That house burned down in the 80s, but it was rebuilt and is still there today.

When we lived in California, we lived in an apartment that my parents managed. We lived there a year, and then we moved back to Arkansas. We lived in a house that my great aunt owned. It was a two bedroom house, but my daddy enclosed the back porch to make another bedroom and it was mine. I loved it out there. But, my parents decided to move me in a room with my sister, and then give my brother the other room, so the back porch became their bedroom. That house is no longer there. They torn down the entire block to enlarge the army reserves location.

We later moved to Texas when my dad took a new job. We first lived in an apartment, and then moved to a house that was owned by a man in our church. We lived there until I graduated and moved to a neighboring town. That house has a lot of memories. We actually moved there my last month of high school and stayed there until my third child was born. It was a little three bedroom house and we loved it. I have a lot of memories in that house. That was the house where I planned my wedding. It's the house where I brought my children to come and visit their grandparents. It's the house that I lived in when I graduated high school as well as junior college. I will always love that little house.

That's about all the main houses that I lived in. Man, it was so much easier to be a child. I miss those carefree days.