We stood in the front yard looking at the face of our new house. It was new to us but certainly not new in any other sense of the word. Only the 3.5 acres included with the house made it worth the price. And the owner is a family friend so it was only a matter of payments on a handshake. But it was close to family and in the same school district. I honestly could not have hoped for a more perfect location. My daughter made it a point to stand in one of the many barren patches in the pitiful lawn. She kicked at the dust with her pretty pink tennis shoes. She peered across the road to see my mother waving at us from her front porch and stated dryly, "I'm staying with Gramz."
I mentioned how nice it would be if my daughter's room remained its original lime green after we repainted everything else. She quickly reconsidered her decision to desert me and became 100% supportive of our remodeling project. The foundation was in good shape and the house had a new roof. Everything in between would be up to us. We rolled up our sleeves and ventured inside.
Once everything was cleared out and sent to salvage a solid hardwood floor was revealed. I envisioned how it would look after sanding and a coat of varnish. I saw the whole house through the pristine lens of southern living. I saw photographers coming take pictures of my home for magazines. I was overreaching somewhat but I saw potential in the old structure. My mother stepped in with a pitcher of iced tea. Her words of encouragement were just what I needed for inspiration. "You've certainly got your hands full. Claire, do you want to stay with me until your dad gets this place livable? "
The ladies began scrubbing the walls while I removed all the floor vents to prepare for sanding the hardwood. Every window and doorway was opened and the house filled with sunlight and fresh autumn air. Chawnee pranced about happily. She had been a contemporary city cat most of her life and seemed to be adjusting well with the change to country life. I heard shrieks of horror and looked up to see my mother and daughter rushing out the front door!
An opossum living under the house had climbed through the open floor vent and chased my family out. I took a broom and met him in the hallway. He was fierce and displayed his wide jaws and jagged teeth. Chawnee crept beside me for back up with her tail properly fuzzed. I poked the beast with the broom and he fell right over. Apparently my assault was too much for his old heart. He opened his eye and saw me staring back at him. He quickly closed his eye again. That trick never gets old.
Once the opossum was safely moved to the tree line of our back yard our project could continue. My father arrived with the grill and I helped him put the steaks and burgers into the fridge. Claire was useless beyond this point. She absolutely adored my father and never left his side. As he picked her up and swung her gleefully around in the air I was reminded of my own childhood. After a brutal day of tending to horses and clear cutting fence line, I was never twirled in the air. My father gave me a stern eye and dryly stated we could go in the yard now for a twirl if I liked. I respectfully declined.
My brothers would be fashionably late as expected. Our first day of work was nearly completed as they drove up with a full cooler of iced adult beverages. Again, shrieks issued from within the house. Had the opossum returned? I entered with my father and brothers to see my newly sanded hardwood floor. Claire had left her paint pan on the floor. We now a trail of white paw prints from her room to the kitchen. Chawnee's paws had dried but the evidence remained.
You contractors and home improvement gurus would certainly scoff but we decided as a family to leave the paw prints as they were. Chawnee was a member of our family and she made her mark to make the house her home as well. Her paw prints were varnished over a now serves as a fun conversation piece for visiting guests.
The weeks went by and our family continued to toil over the old house. The days were quickly getting colder but we completed the major work on time. Claire had an enlarged window with a recessed sill that she could sit in while she read. From her perch at the window, the sun washed over her in the mornings. And she could peer into the clear starry sky at night. The sunrise through the large living room window filled the whole house with a warm glow each morning. It opened on hinges and could be a serving counter for guest relaxing on the front porch. There was a porch swing on the front and a tire swing in the back hanging from an old shade tree.
We hung all our family portraits on the wall in the den beginning with my great grandfather and ending with a smirking school picture of Claire. Nothing we could have purchased at the hardware store could have achieved this feat of home improvement. Every inch of our new home displayed the fine craftsmanship that could have only been created by a loving family.
Previously Posted on FullofKnowlege.com
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