Yesterday was an amazing day…let me tell you the story.
On Fat Tuesday I left the house to make a Walgreens run. As
I was leaving, I noticed a small, gray SUV parked across the street. I didn’t
think much of it because this is Midtown – everyone parks in the side of the
street. When I came back from Walgreens (we live 2 minutes from it, so I was
gone maybe 10 minutes, tops) the small, gray SUV was sitting in our driveway.
As I pulled up, they pulled out of the driveway and parked across the street
again. I parked, got out and began walking towards the house. As I was
approaching the steps I heard someone behind me say, “Excuse me, ma’am. But do
you live in this house?” (pointing to our house). I told her that I did live in
the house, with my husband and son. She introduced herself as Nancy and then
proceeded to tell me that her mother and uncle grew up in the house in the 40s
and 50s and that her mother’s birthday was coming up.
Then she asked the really cool question. She asked if we
could arrange a time for her mother and uncle to come see the house – they
hadn’t seen it since they moved out in the late 1950s. “Of course! It would be
an honor,” I said. We exchanged phone numbers and agreed to set up a time soon.
Not too long after moving in to the house RA and I spent a
day at the Historic Commission in Government Plaza tracing the property deeds
of the house from the original builders and owners – the Torreys in 1902 to our
purchase of the house in 2010. As Nancy and I talked that day on the sidewalk
she mentioned her grandparents names which I immediately recognized as being
owners of the house in the 40s and 50s, just as she had said.
Since I had to work all week I called my mom and asked her
to come over Friday evening to help me clean the house (remember, there is a
4-month old in the house, so cleaning for real guests is not at the top of my
priority list…)so that it would be presentable for our guests. We spent Friday
evening and Saturday morning making sure things looked nice – I even had time
to decorate the dining room table for Easter.
As we waited for our guests to arrive RA and I took RF
outside on the porch to swing and enjoy the weather.
Once they arrived and got out of the car, you could see the
excitement and joy on the faces of Margie and Jimmy (Nancy’s mother and uncle –
the ones who grew up in the house). They were beaming with smiles. Everyone
introduced themselves and came in to the house and again, you could see the
happiness on their faces. We spent the better part of an hour and a half going
through all 2600 square feet of the house, room by room. As we moved through
the rooms Margie and Jimmy recalled stories and memories that occurred in each
room – a New Year’s Eve get-together in the living room, Christmas dinner in
the dining room, their grandfather getting a cold drink out of the new
refrigerator in the kitchen, and the warm summer evenings laying in their beds
with the windows open listening to the noises of the city. Margie even told us that just inside the front door there was a small table with a radio and that is where she and the whole family was standing on Sunday, December 7, 1941 as the news of the attack at Pearl Harbor began to spread. They were again standing by the radio the next day as FDR addressed the nation.
They were able to
tell us about how the house looked today compared to when they lived in it and
amazingly, a good bit of it is exactly the same – the living room, dining room
and kitchen, the staircase, the transoms, and bedrooms, all just the same as
they were in the late1950s when they moved out. A few things that they noted
were different – the downstairs bathroom was their pantry/laundry room and the
sunroom was their back porch that had a staircase that led to the upstairs back
porch which is now our laundry room.
They also brought a photo album that had a number of photos
of them growing up in the house which was amazing to see. We showed them the
few photos we have of the house – ones we got at the Historic Commission. One
photo we have is of the front of the house and there is a huge magnolia tree in
the front yard. When we showed that photo to Margie and Jimmy they both said
that is exactly how they remembered it and that they could even picture their
grandfather and father sitting on the front porch. They also told us about all
their neighbors – each house that is currently on our street was here when they
lived here. They told us about playing outside all day in the summer – it was
too hot in the house – no AC – and how you knew it was time to come home when
the street lights came on - what a simpler time.
When we moved back to Mobile from Athens we knew we wanted
an old historic home. Both being lovers of history, it fits us - our
personalities and our lifestyle. I had never really thought though, until
yesterday, about all the other families that have lived here and the memories
that this house holds for them. As we create our memories with RF, we are
reminded that these walls support 110 years worth of history. We love our home
and we love living in a city that has such a special history, a city that,
though it has changed quite a bit, still has such a special place in the hearts
of its people, a city that holds memories of the past and is celebrated and
appreciated by those living in the present.
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