Your last couple of posts are very thought-provoking and real and necessary… but this Front Porch one just leaped off the page. I love front porches. I had one in the house my kids grew up in and we spent lots of time on that front porch… eating, talking, rocking babies, playing games, scaring kids on Halloween, taking photos, escaping from the rain or snow or pounding sun, talking to neighbors, keeping our puppies safe… and Barry and I even re-did it in blue stone and cement and had our kids put their handprints in the cement. The people who bought our house fell in love with the handprints and they are still there (the new owners AND the handprints!). My Jane and I went back to see them last year when we visited our very dear friend who lived directly across the street. Our friend died last August of brain cancer. Her name was Jane, too, and I waved to Jane every day for 20 years off that front porch. We watched Jane’s daughter, Jessica, go off to kindergarten and middle school and high school and proms and college from that front porch. I hugged Jane as she cried a river the day Jessica left from that porch. I hugged my own children on that front porch when they came home cut or scraped or excited or broken hearted. That happened a lot!! When we moved from that house, even though all the kids were grown, I knew I needed another front porch. We got one. That’s when the weddings and grandchildren began to come. That front porch held so many celebrations that I can’t begin to count. Then we moved again to the house we’re in now. It doesn’t have a front porch, but every day I tell Barry that I need one. I know exactly what I want and I know I will get it one day. I NEED ONE. We have a huge back deck that we spend tons of time on… but it’s not the same. The front porch is a window to the world.
My love of front porches began with my Nana who lived in Boston. When I would visit her, we would sit on her front porch and talk and laugh and eat and drink and just BE. It wasn’t big, but it was perfect. I still see my Nana just sitting on that porch with her lemonade and cigarettes. That porch shaped my life. It was such a happy, happy place. Your few words today have brought back wonderful memories for me. Words are like front porches. You don’t need many, you don’t need big ones… but you need both to live and love. I’m gonna work on Barry about that front porch until it becomes my reality! Thanks, Beth… I love you!
I would like to add on to this sentence: “I need to sit there more often.” and change it to “I need to sit there more often with Erin and cold drinks.”
That rocking chair looks divine! I would love to rock the afternoon away with a good book and a tall glass of lemonade!
And your last post was terrific-very thought-provoking, very appropriate, and very truthful. I wish I’d been there to hear it! And I hope I can apply it to my life. Thank you for the insight!
I love this photo and I loved your disconnect post. It made me get off the computer and play hide and seek with my boys. Thanks!
Your last couple of posts are very thought-provoking and real and necessary… but this Front Porch one just leaped off the page. I love front porches. I had one in the house my kids grew up in and we spent lots of time on that front porch… eating, talking, rocking babies, playing games, scaring kids on Halloween, taking photos, escaping from the rain or snow or pounding sun, talking to neighbors, keeping our puppies safe… and Barry and I even re-did it in blue stone and cement and had our kids put their handprints in the cement. The people who bought our house fell in love with the handprints and they are still there (the new owners AND the handprints!). My Jane and I went back to see them last year when we visited our very dear friend who lived directly across the street. Our friend died last August of brain cancer. Her name was Jane, too, and I waved to Jane every day for 20 years off that front porch. We watched Jane’s daughter, Jessica, go off to kindergarten and middle school and high school and proms and college from that front porch. I hugged Jane as she cried a river the day Jessica left from that porch. I hugged my own children on that front porch when they came home cut or scraped or excited or broken hearted. That happened a lot!! When we moved from that house, even though all the kids were grown, I knew I needed another front porch. We got one. That’s when the weddings and grandchildren began to come. That front porch held so many celebrations that I can’t begin to count. Then we moved again to the house we’re in now. It doesn’t have a front porch, but every day I tell Barry that I need one. I know exactly what I want and I know I will get it one day. I NEED ONE. We have a huge back deck that we spend tons of time on… but it’s not the same. The front porch is a window to the world.
My love of front porches began with my Nana who lived in Boston. When I would visit her, we would sit on her front porch and talk and laugh and eat and drink and just BE. It wasn’t big, but it was perfect. I still see my Nana just sitting on that porch with her lemonade and cigarettes. That porch shaped my life. It was such a happy, happy place. Your few words today have brought back wonderful memories for me. Words are like front porches. You don’t need many, you don’t need big ones… but you need both to live and love. I’m gonna work on Barry about that front porch until it becomes my reality! Thanks, Beth… I love you!
I love your porch! Could I please come and sit? I’ve wanted a nice front porch forever and it doesn’t look like I’m going to get one any time soon.
I would like to add on to this sentence: “I need to sit there more often.” and change it to “I need to sit there more often with Erin and cold drinks.”
Perfect follow up picture to your disconnect…
…which, by the way, lit a fire under my butt to spend the entire day at the zoo with the kids…
ummm, with Erin and Love and cold drinks. =)
That rocking chair looks divine! I would love to rock the afternoon away with a good book and a tall glass of lemonade!
And your last post was terrific-very thought-provoking, very appropriate, and very truthful. I wish I’d been there to hear it! And I hope I can apply it to my life. Thank you for the insight!
Ooooh, love that rocker!!! Where’s the sweet tea?!