My grandmother’s house was a frequent staple of my life from the time I was a few months old until a year and a half ago.
We had huge family gatherings on all of the major holidays, with Christmas and Thanksgiving being the two that we all loved the most.
All of my aunts and uncles would fly across the country with my cousins for both of those holidays each year. Thankfully, my family lived in the same city as my grandparents and we never had to travel to get to these holiday gatherings. I wish these times had lasted longer than they did. As all of the children grew up and moved away for school, the family gatherings were thinner as the years went on. I was utterly shocked when I was told at 35 years old that I was on my grandmother’s will to inherit that old house after she passed away from cancer a year after my grandfather. Walking inside it again without them present was tough to get used to, but soon I grew a fondness for the place again. With a fresh coat of paint and a new indoor layout, I was soon creating a unique space just for me. The last thing I did was get a new air conditioner installed. This house doesn’t have a garage, instead it has an outdoor carport. When it was first built, there was no air conditioner. By the 70s, my grandparents finally bought an air conditioner, but it was put into a wooden cabinet in the car port. It’s not exactly the most energy efficient place for the air handler, as it will absorb heat on hot summer days. Instead I plan to move it to the attic above the main hallway that runs through the heart of the home.