STORYTIME TAPESTRY

The Newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world

Special Treat ??“ Barbara Elliott Carpenter

May 23, 2005

LEGACY OF DREAMS

Barbara Elliott Carpenter

The house is not a mansion, but it??™s a nice place to live.  Made of coral brick, trimmed with white shutters and white wrought iron banisters, the ranch-type house still looks new, although it was built in 1970.  It nestles among oak trees that tower above and around it.  A little over ten acres of woods and lawn surround the house.

 Originally, an old, two-storied farmhouse stood in front of where the brick house is now.    Back then, two or three acres of the back acreage were fenced. A cantankerous, Black Angus/Jersey cow held reign there.  Moody, yes; but she gave the richest milk that in turn made the best butter and pure cream.   The old house was moved to another location, remodeled and is still inhabited

 The setting is spectacular in the spring.  Over a period of many years, other trees, shrubs and hundreds of flowers were planted.  A row of five perfectly matched Bradford Pear trees line the graveled driveway.  They have grown so tall and spread so wide that their branches now touch.  Scattered in no particular pattern throughout the grounds are Red Bud Trees of various age and heights.    They bloom at the same time as the pear trees, just as lacy new green begins to show on the maples and oaks. 

 For years, people have driven by the grounds just to see the lovely colors in the spring.  During one period of time, a large rectangular garden held hundreds of irises that looked like a field of orchids.  Every color and variety imaginable thrived there.   Eventually they were removed, and a strawberry patch took their place.

 Behind the house, a peony bed, bordered with climbing red and yellow roses, blooms around the first of June.  The fragrance is almost heady.  Bleeding heart, lily-of-the-valley, violets, violas, pansies and tulips grow in borders and along the foundations of outbuildings.   A three-stemmed White Birch shields various bird feeders from sun and north winds.

 That??™s the way it looked three years ago, before my husband??™s mother passed away suddenly of a brain hemorrhage.  Two months before she died, she fell and broke her left wrist and elbow.  Up until then, at the age of eighty-eight, she maintained every inch of her estate, mowing the sloping lawn, trimming low-hanging limbs, caring for the hundreds of trees and plants that she and her husband had planted together over a period of fifty-four years.  After he died, when she was eighty-three, my mother-in-law took care of her domain alone. She loved her home, second only to her children and grandchildren.  She never grew tired of planting living things, just so she could watch them grow. 

 My husband bought the house from his sister, as part of the estate settlement.  None of us could stand the thought of  ???strangers??? owning Grandma??™s house, but it took a lot of time to maintain it.  Just keeping the extensive lawn mowed every week in the summer was quite a task.  A year after Grandma died, the house was rented by a retired couple.  They kept the place up nicely, but having someone else live in her house was difficult.

  Another couple rented the house for a few months after the first couple moved to Florida.  When the second couple moved into their newly built house, Grandma??™s house remained empty for almost another year.  None of the potential renters pleased my husband.  In time, keeping her house, knowing that he would never be able to walk into the kitchen and find her in it, became too much for him. He felt that he had to check on the property morning and night, and that lawn took hours to mow and trim.  It was a hard decision, but he finally decided to sell it.

 Many people looked at the place.   For some, the house was too big, for others, too small, too much lawn, etc., etc.  One spring afternoon, when all the trees were a riotous, colorful array of blossoms, my husband was mowing the lawn at his mother??™s house.  A car drove slowly by, turned around and drove back, stopping in the driveway.  A young couple with two children, an eight-year-old boy and a ten-year-old-girl, exited the car.

 Negotiations began on the spot.  A couple of weeks later, they came to an agreement; and the young couple owned Grandma??™s house.  They are in their early thirties, and they love their new home.  The children have already climbed every tree that is accessible, and a new fence encloses an area for their pet lambs.  The young woman is having a dishwasher installed in the kitchen, something Grandma didn??™t want.

 They are making the house and grounds their own, planting new trees and making plans to install water in the big barn.  The children agreeably chose their bedrooms, thrilled with the walk-in closets.  All four of the new residents are ecstatic with their new home.

 ???Well, this is the first day I haven??™t checked on Mother??™s house since before she died.  That place has been a part of my life since we moved into the old house, when I was thirteen years old.  I almost wish I hadn??™t sold it.???  My husband sounded near tears.  It was May 1^st, the day he officially turned the property over to the new owners.  There was such sadness, almost remorse in his voice.  I touched his hand.

???Honey, I am so thrilled that your mom??™s house will again be filled with love and laughter and children.  During the last several years, it was filled with illness and death and dying.  It??™s time.  It??™s time to let go.   Your mother poured her heart into her home, and the young woman inside it now is going to do the same thing.  It??™s a wonderful continuity of life, passed from your mother to her.   She would be so pleased with your choice.  I know that she would.  In fact, I think that she is pleased!  She has left a legacy of dreams that will continue through this young couple and their children, on to the next generation of grandchildren.???

???You think so???? he asked.

???I know it!??? I told him.  He smiled at me.

???I believe you??™re right,??? he said.

???Aren??™t I always????

It was a good day.                          

                                             ~Barbara Elliott Carpenter

The award-winning author has written other pieces about her mother-in-law, the woman who was a major part of her life for close to fifty years.  Carpenter??™s second novel in a series of three, will be released this summer.  The third is scheduled for release in 2006.  Starlight, Starbright??¦, Wish I May, Wish I Might??¦ and The Wish I Wish Tonight are a continuing family saga, covering post World War II  to the present day.  The first one is available at franchised book stores and online at borders.com, barnes&noble.com and amazon.com.    The author can be reached through her website: www.barbaraelliottcarpenter.com or her email: bjlogger2@aol.com  .