This is an amazing story! The doorbell rang today, and this couple was standing at the front door. His name is Grover, and her name is Nina. She explained that they were both from Oberlin, Ohio, and that when she was five years old, she lived in our house! They have come east so that she could visit places where she had lived as a child. We invited them in, and showed them the downstairs and our new back room. She told stories of how there was a wood grate in the front hall floor, because the house was heated by a coal furnace! She remembered the coal truck coming to the house and having a coal chute put through the cellar window! She also remembered that the "ice box" was on the back porch, and the ice man would come up the driveway with a big block of ice held on his back with tongs, and the block of ice would be put into the ice box. I almost remember this when I was a child in New Haven. They are a wonderful couple and it was such a nice visit, and we has such a rich conversation. I am thrilled that they came to visit, and that we were at home at that moment!
5 comments:
i am happy that you were home so you could hear stories about your home. I love posts like this - the connections we all have along the path of life...betsey
Love this story. There's something about going back to a place where you spent time as a kid. We moved around more than a few times when I was growing up, and I have gone out of my way on certain trips to see what they look like now. I've never had the courage to ring a doorbell to see inside, and I think my memories of a life I yearned for but could never have would be too overwhelming. (Who wants a complete stranger weeping in your living room?) But I love that this couple looks so happy; that her husband supports her quest to see houses where she recalls her childhood happiness and long ago memories, and that you were so gracious to let them reconnect with your home. Their story reminds me that I have one, too. Thanks for this.
Wonderful story. I am happy that you were home and invited them in to view your home and share stories. Jenny had someone knock on her door a few years ago by people who spend their summers in the cottage.
Joan
This is truly a feel good story and one that brings back similar memories for me. I remember the coal bin and furnace in the basement of my Virginia grandparent's house. And the icebox was also on the back porch. In 2008, I knocked on the door of my Rhode Island grandparent's old house (without any prior notice) and had a delightful visit with the new owners; they followed up the visit by sending me some articles concerning the house that was built by a local textile company. My first home was in Brooklyn and very near the northern end of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It was maybe ten years ago that we walked up to the house - but I chickened out and, regretfully, did not knock on the front door.
That couple came to my house last week and left me a copy of The Book of Mormon
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