Looking Forward

Well, I'm having a hard time tearing myself away from this thing. It is very cathartic. As you know, we're moving back to Atlanta soon (very soon) and things are starting to take shape on that front. This weekend we are going to the Smyrna house and create a punch list of things that need to be done. It may be small, but I have decided to make it the best darn little house that there is. I have started arranging furniture in my mind and deciding what pieces to give away, as not everything will fit. I'm comparing the prices on bunk-beds, refrigerators, dishwashers and water heaters. I'm thinking about what boxes and packing supplies we will need and what size truck to rent. I have a lot on my mind. I am searching for smart ways to store/organize stuff. I know I've seen a thousand decorator's magazines with those cute little bungalows that are so tightly put together they seem to be twice as big. I'm hoping that I can copy a lot of those ideas. Unfortunately, a lot of our stuff is just plain big. We are giving Baxter's brother our big chair-and-a-half that's in the playroom. I'm giving my sister our huge bulky coffee table. My big leather sofa is way too bulky but will just have to squeeze. A lot of things are going to go into storage. It seems a little daunting. However, I should try to see this as an opportunity to decide what is important to us. We have a lot of things we can do without!
Our plan is to live in the little house for a brief time. We hope to build something bigger in the future - but who really knows what the future will hold? A few months ago, I kind of shuddered at the thought of anyone coming to visit us when we're moved in. Now, I think I am humbled by a few things going on around me and the thought of such humble surroundings isn't so bad after all. I want to, instead, take you along with me on this journey - which is what I should have realized before.
Looking forward makes me also consider the past and the Smyrna house has an interesting story. My Dad was born in Elijay in 1931 at the height of the great depression. Appalachia was everything you've read about in the history books back then - very, very poor. Daddy remembers whole years when they literally lived on beans and nothing else. Things were tough and my grandmother, although very pretty, wasn't a very good homemaker and found it difficult to stretch their dollars and their food through these early years. Then World War II came and my grandfather went off to serve in the Navy. He was almost too old but I think they took anyone back then. The little bit of money this afforded wasn't enough to live off of and my grandmother had to find a way to survive. She heard that they were hiring ladies at Dobbins AFB to work on airplanes for the war effort and within no time at all, she had a pretty good job with money of her own. She rented a house in Marietta at first and my Dad, his brother Hansel, and her mother all pitched in. After a short time, her good looks won her a job as an officer's assistant and she got a raise. After that, she purchased the house in Smyrna for a small sum of money. My grandfather's homecoming meant no less than five people shared the tiny space but back then people lived in smaller dwellings and I'm sure it wasn't out of the ordinary. She only moved out of that house when she could no longer take care of herself. First, alternating between her children for a time, then moving into Lanier Gardens where she spent her last days.
I have thought about her a lot lately, as I am sure I will when we move into her home and make it our own. Moving out of Elijay all those many years ago saved her and her children from the brink of starvation. Like so many other depression-era stories, she showed great courage to do what she did and it is nothing short of heroic. It is strange that in many ways, that little house is going to turn out to be our salvation as well. I'm sure that my grandmother would be pleased to know that.