Ambivalently bummed out

[bixaorellana]

I talked to my mother tonight, & she told me the family home where she grew up was sold.

She put it on the market in April, so it took almost a year to sell. There were lots of prospective buyers, but no one could get a loan.

This property is a house built in 1939 plus two store buildings. The one built in the 30s became the warehouse when the "new" store was built in the 50s.

When I was born, my parents lived down the street from my grandparents, & I spent as much time with them as I did in my own house. After my dad was recalled into the Air Force, we spent every summer at my grandparents except for the time we were overseas.

The house has also been part of my son's life ever since he was born. My grandfather died in 1971 and my grandmother in 1994. My uncle lived in the house several years after that. After he died in 2001 my mother -- the last person in the immediate family -- decided to keep it even though she lives in Oklahoma. She held some great get-togethers and family Thanksgivings for us there.

Still, the house is an expense and burden and we worry about my mother & stepfather driving back and forth from Oklahoma to Louisiana to look after it. I totally understand my mother's wanting to sell it, and am happy for her that she's out from under it now.

But, still .............

[spindrift]

If you've had happy times in that house then it's only natural you would feel regret at its being sold. I am sorry that it's gone. Perhaps there was the possibility that you could have taken it over in the long run?

[Deleted]

I was sorry to see my grandmother's house go, but more the furnishings than the actual rooms, which mostly lacked comfort, especially in the winter.

Now, whenever I pass that house in the ancestral village, it leaves me completely indifferent. The souls that inhabited it are long gone.

[bixaorellana]

Not only was it not economically feasible for anyone in the family to keep it, none of us actually wants to live in that town. It is one of the prettiest towns in the US, but has no appeal for me.

Kerouac's remark reminded me that many of my family are buried in that town & my mother plans to be buried there. However, since I don't believe the deceased are "in" the cemetery, that's rather moot & helps to put the shedding of a former dwelling in perspective.

[Deleted]

I am saddened to hear this news Bixa,I have so many fond memories of good times spent there. And it is also your family's last connection to Louisiana in the sense that the likelihood of seeing your Mom and you coming here becomes less likely and impractical. I fantasized about buying it and using it for a evacuation getaway. Truly the end of an era
On the more positive side, apiece of property that size selling in the current market is a blessing for your Mom, It has to be a relief.

[bixaorellana]

Digging around here in the archives, I saw the title of this thread, saw that I was the OP, and wondered what it might be.

It turns out that I have something to add here.

My son went to New Orleans recently and told me he was going to drive through St. Francisville. I sort of tried to discourage him, thinking it would be depressing, as he is very sentimental about the place.

He reported that the only thing the new owners have changed was to put a picket fence around the yard, which my son said had little kids' toys in it.

I realize it shouldn't matter, but I am so happy about this. There was something about the idea of the place being turned into yet another B&B or antique store or lawyer's office that I hated. A new family with small children seems like a jolly new chapter for the house.

[Deleted]

I have found that I am incapable of not haunting old places related to the family from time to time. It doesn't depress me at all, but I'm sure that if I found the house(s) abandoned or destroyed, it certainly would.

[spindrift]

Yes, I agree. Like my farmhouse recently.