The Tale Of Two Kitchens…

I’ve been scanning old photos for the past several days.  In the process, I’ve been taking a long walk down “memory lane”. The picture below was taken of mine and Ed’s parents together, on Christmas Day, 1981.  That’s their granddaughter (and mine and Ed’s daughter, Brandy) standing in front of them.

Ed's parents on left, mine on the right

It wasn’t uncommon for mine and Ed’s parents  to spend holidays together.  My parents usually celebrated most holidays early, because my brother and his family lived out-of-state.  So my parents usually spent the actual holiday at Ed’s parents’ house with all of us.  It was wonderful how our parents always got along so well.

These photos were taken in the new kitchen that Ed’s dad had recently built onto the back of their home.  See that brick wall in the background?  It used to be the back outside wall of their house!

Their original kitchen was small, and after adding new kitchen cabinets on the back wall, Ed’s parents discovered they needed more room to  dine–desperately!  Their family was growing– in the form of daughter-in-laws and grandchildren!  There simply wasn’t enough room to eat in the kitchen anymore.

Ed’s dad was a retired carpenter at the time, so he got out his hammer and saw, then added a new, larger kitchen to the back of the house!  I love a “do it yourself” kind of guy!  He was proud of his handiwork, and we soon put the new kitchen to good use.

After the kitchen was finished, Ed’s parents bought two large folding tables and placed them together.  It made a very large dining table, and we all had a place to sit–for a while.  Back in those days, we still put the food on the table, “family style”.  We almost needed some “pot passers”  like the Clampets used on the television show, “The Beverly Hillbillies”!

cousins setting the table for MeMa

Eventually, we outgrew this table, too, and at that time, the grandchildren began eating in the “old kitchen” while the adults ate in the “new kitchen”.  Of course, the children loved having a kitchen to themselves!

Those folding tables are long gone now, as are all the chairs.  We haven’t had a large family dinner in the old house since 2004.  My parents died first, both during the nineties, followed several years later by Ed’s daddy in 2002.

These days, Ed’s mama spends most holidays with us, but occasionally she visits one of her other sons.  Last year she chose to spend Christmas at the personal care home where she currently resides.  I didn’t blame her, cause I was overing a nasty case of the flu!

For the moment, our son, Brad, and his new wife, Jennifer, are  staying in the old family house.  (You may recall that Brad lived with his grandmother prior to her health issues.)  The house still has those two complete kitchens, but Brad and Jennifer use the original small kitchen.  It’s just right for two of them.

I find it interesting how the old house has come full circle.  Over sixty years ago, it began with a family of two…hosted a family of eighteen at its last dinner in 2004…and now has dwindled back down to a family of two again.  I don’t know what the future will hold for the old family house, but that house sure holds a lot of sweet memories for me–two kitchens and all!