Monday, November 1, 2010

The House That Built Me


When I was growing up, my parents moved around a lot. I was a shy child and the moves were uncomfortable and even a bit painful.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I had this notion that I wanted my kids to graduate with some of the same kids with whom they had gone to kindergarten. My firstborn baby eventually became a kindergartener. I registered her for school and away she went. In the blink of an eye, she was finished with high school. She attended schools in the same district the entire time. I was so thrilled that I had given her the continuity I wished for her before I'd even laid eyes on her. I have a son who also graduated recently with some of the kids who were in his kindergarten class. It really meant a lot to me.

A few weeks ago, my younger daughter and I were driving in the car. Kaitlyn is a junior in high school. On this particular day, she was so excited about a song she wanted me to hear. She looked it up on the internet and played it for me. It is a beautiful song by Miranda Lambert about a girl who grew up in a house and as an adult needed to go back and feel that connection. As the song played, I listened and I felt the tears well in my eyes.

When the song was over, Kaitlyn asked, "Don't you think that song is so cool?"

I said, "Well, it is a lovely song. But what I think is cool is that YOU think it is cool!"

She could see that the song moved me to tears. I explained to her that I'd fought so hard for them to have that deep-rooted connection. I told her that her enthusiasm for this song told me she has it....she "gets" the reason for my determination to stay here for so long. This little gray house is the only house every one of my children has known. I brought them each home from the hospital as newborn infants to this place. The colors on the walls have changed, the floor looks different, too. But this is the house that has built them.

Go ahead! Have a listen....click here!

3 comments:

kaitlynwilsey said...

Mom, having the continuity that you have given us really is amazing. I love having the friends still that I met when I was too young to remember. With those friends, it isn't only the house that built us. It's also the town. Our handprints are set in the new roads as they changed from dirt roads to concrete. I know we sometimes complain about this little house, but we all love it...because it HAS built us. i'll sure miss it!

Michael Wurm Jr said...

it's always amazing when a song can reach us the way nothing else can.

great song! thanks for sharing your story.

Sonya McCllough Lockridge said...

OMG and this is the first time I have type those three letters ... your daughter's comment and a letter from my daughter, when they broke a window out at the dawn of winter here in TN ...my daughter said the same thing about continueN ...