I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts. You may read posts about my cats or just my crazy life in general. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. Maybe we can share war stories, whether it's writing related or just about life in general.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A is for Addition



I’m talking about an addition to the house.  We badly needed more room for seven kids and two parents.

When there were four of us kids, we finally moved from the Colonial trailer (much like an Airstream).  We took over three sharecropper’s shacks that our aunt and uncle were living in until they built a small house across the field.  They closed the shacks in to make one house.  However, this was only three rooms with an outhouse.  Even though this was bare bones living, most of us have our fondest childhood memories during the years we spent in this house.

I think we lived there a couple of years before our grandfather drove down from Houston (Mama’s father) to help with the addition project.  I’m sure he wondered how his only daughter ended up in such a place to start with.  He did what he could to give us more room by adding another section as big as we already had, separating them by a long hallway.  We also got an inside bathroom at this time.  I can remember him nailing up the sheetrock and taping it ready to paint, however the only thing ever painted in this section of the house was our parent’s bedroom.



 This is the sharecropper's shack we lived in

In fact, the original house was only two by fours and never actually closed in or painted, except for the door, which was sea green.

Bringing his small old suitcase, he stayed a few days and brought along a charcoal grill that we set up between the structures.  The adults stretched a tarp across to block the wind.  We roasted ears of corn and they were delicious after we peeled away the black shucks to expose the smoky tasting kernels.  This grill impressed all of us kids because we usually cooked inside in the tiny kitchen.

This was the only time I can remember our mother’s father spending the night with us.  We really didn’t have any room for company and I wonder now where he slept.

11 comments:

  1. That was a great start to the challenge. Even, my mom recently was talking about addition of another room as my nephew came to stay with us.

    ~ Stri

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    1. Thanks Stri. I'll be visiting your blog.

      Sunni

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  2. That is a touching post! People live in big bungalows but fail to share the love. And small houses are warm and cozy with love pouring from all corners. I love that smell of roasted corns.... The last mention of your mother's father is leaving me in thoughts too...

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    1. Shesha,

      Those were some rough but happy times. Thank you for reading and commenting. I'll come and visit your blog.

      Sunni

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  3. I can't imagine you having much room to turn around in but I can imagine from your descriptive words that the little house was overflowing with love. Nice start to the A-Z!

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    1. Kathry,

      We didn't have a lot of room. That's probably one reason I crave it now. All of us usually got along though. Thanks for reading and your comment. I will visit yours.

      Sunni

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    2. Kathy, you have some interesting posts. I wish I knew how to add a comment. Maybe you'll enlighten me.

      Sunni

      Delete
  4. Simplicity allows for more flexibility and closeness. I think we adapt better when we don't have much to complicate our lives. Nice start to the Challenge.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote
    An A to Z Co-host blog

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    1. Hi Lee,

      Nice to see you here. We didn't have much as kids, but we used what we had and made the most of it.

      Sunni

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  5. I love this post. I used to live in an extremely small house when I was a kid, but all the relatives would visit for Christmas and stay the night. They would sleep like sardines in a can on the floor, from the living room up to the kitchen area. It was amazing we fit so many people, LOL!

    Random Musings from the KristenHead — A is for 'Almost Human' (and Action and Androids)

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    1. Kristen,

      That is funny. There were many times that we felt like sardines in a can. LOL

      Sunni

      Delete

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Sunni