Recently I've heard the new song "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert (country singer). At first I hated the song because of the incessant twang but then one day I listened the words. And I loved them! I felt like the words were honest and real - and very relatable.
The song is about a woman going back to the house she grew up in and asking the people who now live there if she can walk through to feel her old memories.
"I know they say you can’t go home again
I just had to come back one last time
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine"
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam
But these handprints on the front steps are mine"
As she reminisces, she is hoping that these old memories will take away some of her current sadness.
"You leave home and you move on and you do the best you can
I got lost in this old world and forgot who I am
I thought if I could touch this place or feeling
This brokenness inside me might start healing
Out here it’s like I’m someone else
I thought that maybe I could find myself"
Now not having actually grown up in one house in my own life, I am still touched by this song and can relate to wanting to go back to my care-free childhood instead of having the stress and responsibility I have to experience now.
And when I think about all of the homes I grew up in, I think about how much of "me" I took away from each of these places.
For example:
Marigold House
- I learned to tie my shoe.
- I still remember the day that I figured this out with the "bunny ear" technique and experienced my own self-sufficiency.
- I got trapped under the garage door (TWICE!).
- I learned that sometimes when your parents caution you, they actually know their stuff, such as staying out of the way when the door is closing.
- Dad did work on the new Jelly Belly factory and brought home endless goodies
- I learned to appreciate the sweet things in life :)
Elmhurst House
- My brother, Bo, spent one of my birthday parties running around outside and tripping over the garden hose to entertain my friends.
- I learned that boys do stupid things to "impress" girls and brothers will try to steal your thunder :)
- Our house burnt down in 1988 while my family and I were across the street at church
- I learned that if you are in the right place at the right time, you will be blessed - even through trials.
- I experienced the spirit of giving as I was overwhelmed with all of the kindness and unselfishness people offered us. Every day more and more boxes of clothing, dishes, blankets, etc would be given us. The children in my primary even did a penny drive and raised enough money in weeks to buy new scriptures for all 6 of my brothers and sister.
- We lost pretty much everything in that fire yet we were able to bounce back. I learned that material possessions are temporary and replaceable and it was the love of my family - and extended family who took all of us in - that carried us through this hard time. But they made it so fun for me that I can't remember this being a hard time - it just felt like an extended vacation at Grandma's house. I'm sure my parents would feel otherwise but I was 7 years old.
Lily House
- It snowed in Fairfield in December 1988 for the first time in like 8 years.
- I learned that nothing is impossible - and brothers are mean and silly as Rocky picked me up out of bed, threw me in the snow and locked me outside in my nightgown. And then Bo and Josh were trying to ride their bikes down the snowy hill for the thrill of sliding all over.
- I learned that sometimes the best things in life are free - as we "somehow" had free cable in that house.
Evergreen House
- Since I spent my formative pre-teen and teenage years here until I moved away to college, this is the house that
- I learned to play the flute, the bells, sporadically practiced the piano and spent countless hours singing around the piano as my Mom played - deepening my love for music.
- I got to redecorate my room during high school for the first time and my mom let me pick everything, building my creativity.
- I experienced the joy of prank calls & TP'ing houses for the first time - then I worked on perfecting these skills.
- I learned to drive - and learned my mom was a much more patient teacher than my dad.
- I attempted to learn to drive with a stick shift but failed miserably until I was left without a car and with determination tried to rock the "Gator Man" truck. Some things are best just left alone though.
- I learned about dealing with crazy people such as neighbors.
- I started going to church dances and then dating - and oh the hours I spent getting ready with my friends for church dances.
- I probably should have never discovered the joys of skipping class and finding creative ways to cover it up.
- I moved away and then experienced what it was like to come home from college and appreciate your home's sameness again.
"If I could walk around in I swear I’ll leave
Won’t take nothing but a memory
From the house that built me"
From the house that built me"
The simplicity of these memories seems so surreal now as I juggle my career, being a wife and a support to my husband, being a good friend and a good person overall and also keeping myself healthy and fit while developing my own individuality and creativity. So I hope to continue to appreciate the simple things in my life as it grows even more complex.
I realize also that it is not the homes that build you, but really the people that truly build you in those homes -whether it is yourself, your family or your friends.
