By Pam Walker
Mama’s house was the happiest place on earth. My children said so. It was true. In 2016 the happiest place on Earth- the house where I grew up, a home which housed a Christ - centered family, a home with a zillion great memories - sold.
The new home owner does not know about our first Christmas in that house. My brother stayed up late with Daddy, putting together the new bicycle that Santa would bring me. They dropped the bicycle and the kick stand made a dent in the floor.
The new homeowner does not know the story behind the yellow shelf in the utility room, which daddy put there - a shelf which was the recycled backboard of a science fair project. One year Daddy said, “Let’s make the backboard.” And we did, and that was the science fair project that year.
Among the furniture I couldn’t take with me, because I couldn’t use them, were a table and chairs and Daddy’s recliner. Daddy’s recliner belongs in the Smithsonian, next to Archie Bunker’s chair. However, I gave it to a friend to whom I also gave the table and chairs. When they came to pick it up, they loaded it all on their pickup truck... and left. I watched them drive off until out of sight, remembering Daddy sitting in that chair everyday reading the newspaper.
One day in 1965, President Johnson announced that he was sending more troops to Vietnam. Mama sat in her rocking chair, in the den, watching the news ( Huntley Brinkley) that day. She was very worried that my brother, who was a junior in high school, might soon be sent to Vietnam. And he was in 1971.
The day he left for Vietnam, he came and spent the day with us and Mama made an incredible lunch. When it was time for him to go, I stood in the driveway and watched him drive down the street until he was out of sight. I was afraid I would never see him again! But he did return home. One Friday afternoon, he surprised me and came with Daddy to pick me up from driver’s training. I was on the driving range that day and I was so happy to see him! We went home and had dinner together and had a great time.
As you may imagine, I am very sentimental about Mama’s house for a great many reasons. I miss the back yard most of all. There is something very nearly magical about it, although it wasn’t a fancy back yard. My children knew it when they were little and always enjoyed Grandma and Papa’s back yard. I spent many happy hours in the back yard playing dolls, and reading. Daddy started a muscadine vine, which produced very sweet grapes every year. Now the new homeowner, I am sure, enjoys them as well as the pear trees in the back yard.
Ultimately, I am exceedingly grateful that my house sold fast and I moved on, literally and figuratively.
Pam Walker is a paralegal at Vaughn and Clements in Calhoun. You may write her at pamtwalker@gmail.com