Empty Rooms Elements | Allison Pennington
Empty Rooms Papers | Allison Pennington
Hang on a Shining Star [DU] temps | Fiddle Dee Dee
Journal: [556 words]
What can I say about the house on Lum? We moved in when I was a little over 3 years old. Mom. Dad. Me. The three of us made it into our nest, I’m positive. My mom with her gardening green thumb and my dad taking photos of our lives together. Three soon became four and I remember being a proud “big” sister. Then it seemed as if overnight there were seven of us, packed into this tiny thing we called home. The house on Lum did not look like this though. Oh, the fence is the same, the one my dad had put up to keep his kids safe and give them a place to catch fireflies into the night during summer. That spot in the sidewalk, yup, that’s the same, the one I would ride my BMX bike over & over popping wheelies whenever I had the chance. That big tree in the front is still standing. The tree that housed the squirrels every spring and would serve as home base when my cousins would come over and we’d play tag or hide-n-seek. There are differences though, the driveway is now paved, and the house is a light-yellow color. The porch has been redone as well as the shrubs in the front yard, and there used to be a garage at the end of the driveway at the back of the house. Looks like they’ve added a small deck to the side of house where there was a door and the whole house has a had a more modern face lift. But to me, the house on Lum is the same as when I was 5, 10, or even 15 years old. Our house might not have been the biggest or the cleanest. It was absolutely the house on the block with a hundred kids running in and out all summer screaming, laughing, and enjoying childhood with their friends. This is the house that had music playing all day on Saturdays when my dad was off. It’s the same house where I saw my parents argue but I also saw them love and then ultimately saw them announce their divorce. The house where we always shared a room with at least one sibling, so it felt like you were never alone, and sometimes that wasn’t always as bad you thought. It’s also the house that had weekend card parties for adults and that left the kids to run free into the wee hours of the morning. Yes, this is the same house where I had my first kiss, got my first car, and learned how to harvest worms in the yard for fishing the next morning. The house where we ate mulberries straight from the tree in the back and walked barefoot with purple stained feet all summer long. There were so many memories made in the house on Lum that I am certain I don’t remember them all. There were indeed some bad times, we’ve all had them, but more distinctly what I remember most are the times spent with my siblings, the crazy, the weird, the quiet, the loud, the silly, the indescribable. The good times. Some of the best times.
What can I truly say about the only childhood home I’ve ever known except…..the house on Lum will always be Home. [556 words]
