Yesterday as I was thinking-
about this New Year I found
my mind wandering back to
the place where I was born
and raised,
Bradford County, PA.
I don't have many pictures
of my time there,
but I came across some
photos that stopped me in my
tracks.
Someone working for Google Earth
took stunning photos from our
farm setting and they are posted
for the world to see.
This is taken right in front of
our house- headed North.
Our farm house would have
set to the left about 150'
from the road.
You can see the shed my
father and neighbor built
in the 50's on the right-hand
side of the road.
I remember playing with the
cut off pieces of wood and
sifting the sawdust through
my fingers.
I walked that road many a thousand
and one times.
I remember when my father planted
the elm trees on the left and
they were just saplings.
My brother owned the
old farm property
until he passed.
From our kitchen window this
is what we saw....
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
and
the graveyard I wandered in
just across the road to the right.
To the far left and just out of sight
are mountains and there
are seven counties visible on a clear day.
There used to be fences on both sides
of the road and the cows would be
pastured on the left side....
another road I walked thousands of
times as a child...one I only walk
in my memory today.
The old church is beautiful.
It's a replica of a larger European church
copied to the most minute detail inside and out.
I didn't go there because we were not
Catholic-but several members of the
families attended mass there.
I have many relatives buried in the
grave yard to the right.
You can never really go home again,
can you?
Yet, I do....in my dreams...
I remember the smell of ham in the
oven on a Sunday morning and
fresh baked biscuits on the sideboard.
There was always a pie or two
for dessert and
GINGERBREAD for my father.
I remember laughter and love,
flowing free and easy
and covering us like a warm blanket.
But....there were also some sad times,
and trials and tribulations.
My parents have both
"gone home" now,
as has my only brother/sibling.
leaving only myself
to relive the farm memories.
Leaving me to create my own memories
for the children that will follow me.
Someday they, too, will
"remember when"
and I hope their memories
are as happy as my own.
Happy New Year 2025
to all of you-.
I hope you, too, can look
back and remember the
good parts
and that time has
dimmed whatever heartaches
and disappointments you have
encountered along life's path.
I wish you a year of
Love and Sweet Memories.
I will be back soon with an
update on hubby's trip to
Mayo and the results.
