A Nostalgic Lesson in Life

The mobile home that we are renovating isn't just any old trailer.  It has a special history to our family.  When our 2 oldest boys were just tiny things we lived there for about a year or so.  It's been "remodeled" several times so it doesn't really look the same on the inside anymore.  Especially since DH has gutted the back half!

I've gotten to tell the our younger children the story of the time that Son #1 stood up in his bed and threw a melamine cup into Son #2's crib, hitting him in the head (resulting in a nice scar above his eyebrow).  And how we had our pieces of furniture arranged.  And of the time that Son #2 had a seizure while we were watching Star Wars (#4 "A New Hope" which was technically #1 in the series at that time) and we had to rush him to the hospital in a terrible snowstorm (we've connected the dots and think that it was a bad reaction to a round of immunizations!).  The children love to hear these stories about the big brothers that they don't get to see very often anymore.

It's not hard to remember living in this mobile home.  It seems like only a short time ago.  And yet eons. 

Please forgive the poor quality of these scanned photos.  They have been through a flood.  (We saved the best of them, but we lost many.)  These were taken between fall of 1983 to summer of 1984.

Son #1 playing in front of Paw-Paw's shop (next door). 

Paw-Paw still works from this shop repairing boat motors 28 years later. 

Son #1 is not quite 2 and Son #2 not quite 6 months.

I know that they look very docile but they were a bit of a handful !

Son #1 wearing Mommy's shirt!!  What a ham!!

Son #2 with his Snoopy sling.

This picture was taken shortly before we moved.

I lifted him up to a sitting position by his arms one day

after he woke up from his nap and his shoulder popped out of socket!

It happened once more a few months later when I was swinging him

around by his arms.  Scary.  Hospital trip both times.

We would have lived in the mobile home a bit longer if the hot water heater wouldn't have gone out.  I lived with it for a couple of weeks but finally gave DH an ultimatum...  Fix it/replace it or I was leaving!!  I couldn't be expected to do laundry and bathe children with no hot water!!!  Never one to back down from a good challenge, DH let me pack up and move back to my parents!!  It's funny now with a lot of time and maturity under our belts.  But back then, in the throes of youth and emotion (hormones!!) it was very serious business!!  And to think that here we are, 27 years later, living here again and having to do dishes and laundry in cold water and heat water for baths what with our very limited electric resources (SOON to be remedied!!).  The Lord is never one to let a good lesson in wisdom and maturity go to waste!!  He is gracious to let us continue to take the tests again and again until we pass!!  Chin up.  Smile on my face.  One foot in front of the other.  Let's do it right this time!!