It's official. Mom and dad and all the Hillam's have said their goodbyes to their house of 40 years, my childhood home on Locust Lane. It was a gem of a house built in the 1960's with its red brick and giant rectangular window spread so regally across the front. The ivy would grow all along the side of the house and birds would build their nests there. In the 70's, dad built a great room and a sun room along the south side of the house. The living room would always creak and many Christmas mornings were enjoyed here. The front door was mostly glass and a bell has always hung from the knob inside so we could always hear the many comings and goings of the Hillam house.
Things I don't want to forget about the house...
~ Winnie's antique mirror dresser in the hallway. I would always stop to look at myself in the mirror as I opened the fridge. It always looked so lovely at Christmas time trimmed with Christmas lights and candles.
~ The dining room table. This was a Hillam gathering place. Many a Sunday dinner has been had here. Some of us at the table. Others sprawled on the brown carpet reading the paper. Or other stragglers in the kitchen picking at leftovers on the kitchen table.
~ The infamous cutting board in the kitchen. I don't think it has ever been replaced...(has it mom?). Talk about building up your immunity! If we haven't gotten salmonella by now I believe we never will.
~ The candy drawer. This is where twizzlers, skor bars and big hunks were always hiding.
~The wall of non-working antique clocks in the family room. The clocks were collected by mom and dad from years of travel. The only working antique was the one over the fireplace which mom would wind by hand.
~ The freezer room. The room downstairs with painted blue cement floors. It is here where everyone has kept their stuff over the years. Here you could find old dresses from the 70's and 80's worn at proms, yearbooks, letters, old lp's oh yeah and wheat... 5 barrels of it. I remember as a kid taking Jenny Warner in the freezer room and telling her we had to eat this wheat. The blue cement was cold on your feet. We use to take the lids off the green tin barrels and sit in the wheat. We would eat spoonfuls and think we were so naughty.
~ The writing desk in front of the great window. This is where children would sit to draw, carve their initials or eat cold cereal.
~ Joann stopping by, with a quick knock of the brass door knocker and then a..."Anybody home?" as she invites herself in.
~ The doorknob in the hallway where mom hung her purse...the purses changed over the years but the doorknob stayed the same.
~ Mom playing the piano in the living room. Her chin up, as she peeks through her reading glasses to read the music.
~My wallpaper in my bedroom that Karen picked out...lovely blue flowers with a white background.
~ The hole mom left in the ceiling downstairs where she jumped to the sky cheering during a BYU football game.
~ Dad playing fix it man around the house and mom saying that it was just time to call the plummer.
Things I don't want to forget about the big move...
~Mom in true Carolyn form, running around in a ball of sweat taking care of all the house details whilst taking care of dads needs and everyone else's needs at the same. She has always been an incredible multi-tasker and always manages to remain calm at the same time. Towards the end of the week I was starting to slump and grump like a teenager wishing our job complete and then I would see my 74 year old mother wiz by with a task at hand.
~Keeping dad busy during the move but also keeping him safe.
~Annie and I getting slap happy by about 4'oclock everyday as we take another box or bag to the DI, the new house, the storage unit or the Helaman Halls dumpster.
~Dad asking where his stilts (aka crutches) are and mom, Annie and I laughing at the idea of dad doing a circus act on stilts in front of the house.
~ Mom, Annie and I baffled over the current status and future home of the 5 barrels of wheat in the freezer room. Conflicted over the disposal of the wheat due to the current economic/food crisis, but then damn, we just need to get rid of it.
~Dad's impending need to have his rifle (one that he used when he was a boy) and his sword (that was given to him by his students from London study abroad) cleaned and polished before he moved into the new apartment.
~Dad sitting on the end of his bed whilst mom ties his tie just before church.
~Watching mom with the hose squirting off the driveway (as she has done for years)
~ Selling the Subaru to Ray Bradford for $100.
~ Listening to Cat Power's Song for Bobby sitting on the deck at the cabin.
~ Cara-vanning back and forth between Midway, the cabin and Jennifer's house.
~ The wretched and relentless stomach flu that passed through us all during this time of change.
I could go on and on as anyone could from years of memories. Even though this last Utah trip was full of work rather than play and car troubles and stomach flu's it was a time for bonding and reflection with family. It was, to be cliche... bitter sweet. It was strange to strip the house bare, leave the key and close the door. I shed a few tears for my house but then was quickly reassured by the reality that it really is the best thing for all of us now . I am so grateful to Jennifer, Gary and kids for providing such a perfect space for mom and dad...all spankin' new, but surrounded by all the old things too. The antique furniture, the memorabilia from 40 years... all the stuff that made up our home has followed them. Okay, well, not all of it, we got rid of ALOT, but all the stuff we would like to remember.
