Friday, March 8, 2019

Our House

This post is for Day 8 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March.

1955 - We were a family of six - my mom and dad, my two sisters and my brother. My father was building a house. When it was finished we would be living there together. I was six and it's difficult now to recall the details of that time. Thankfully, I do remember moments, and feelings, and sounds and smells. 

There were days that our whole family would go to the building site. We were together and the sense of family was so strong. We weren't running off to spend time with friends. We weren't distracted by the TV. And at that time we had no digital devices that would draw our attention away from our time as a family.

My mother would pack peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We would bring along a record player, games, coloring books and crayons. We would spend the day in the space that would one day be our dining room.

What I remember most is the smell of fresh wood. Walk into any lumber store and you will know what I mean. There is something about the smell of freshly sawed wood.

The closeness of our family was like the strength of the timber. The timber that formed the foundation of the home my father built.