The Life of a House

A small girl is curled up on the legs of her Mother who is sitting on a bright orange, velvet couch.  The little girl holds a small wooden bowl containing a scoop of ice cream.  She is gripping the spoon tightly as though it might jump out of her hand.  She swirls it around the bowl creating a smooth malt-like drink from the frozen lump of ice cream.  Her mother looks at her, "Why are you doing that?"  "Because it tastes better this way," says the little girl.



In the dining room are cousins, sisters, brothers, mothers and aunts playing cards.  A young girl sits on a stool at the table's side.  She wanted to play High-Low-Jack, too.    In her hands are four jokers.  She grips them tightly anxiously awaiting her turn to place them onto the pile.  She just knows she is going to win!



In the bedroom is a young teenager wearing headphones and playing her LP records.  Her walls are covered with posters and photos of Shawn Cassidy.  She sings "Da Doo Ron Ron"  loudly, not realizing what a ruckus she is making.  Her older sister storms in the room.  "What are you doing?!"  Startled, she responds, "Singing."  "I thought something was wrong with you!  Be quiet!" as she spins on her heals and leaves the room.  The teenager cranks up the headphones, and sings even louder.  In the years to come, Shawn Cassidy will be replaced by Remington Steele while the girl moves on from LPs to cassette tapes.  On the shelf in her room sits her 12 inch black and white TV which airs three stations.



In the family room, a young girl sits on the floor playing "Mousetrap" with a friend.  From the kitchen, a small radio is heard.  The song "New York, New York"  by Frank Sinatra comes on the radio.  A woman enters the room singing along to the song, and swiveling her hips.  The young girl is embarrassed and rolls her eyes, "MOM!"  The Mom laughs and dances her way out of the room.

A desperate Mom lays down next to her young daughter on the bed, trying to get her to nap.  Relief would come quickly as the Mom falls asleep instead of the child.  The child expresses her love for her Mommy by using her lipstick to create fabulous and original artwork on the bureau. 

After playing on her friend's crutches, a young girl pouts and tells her Mother, "I wish I had crutches."  Beneath the Christmas tree that year, was a pair of crutches with a note attached.  "To Tiny Lisa, From Old Scrooge."

Around the coffee table runs a small girl wearing fuzzy blue slippers.  The girl yells, "Help!  A fox is chasing me!" as she giggles.  Behind her runs a small Pomeranian puppy, grabbing at those slippers.  Each time the little girl stopped running, the puppy grabbed those slippers and shook her head with a growl, like a cheetah catching it's prey.  The little girl would squeak with laughter.  A better squeaky toy has yet to be created.



On a rainy day, a young girl decides to use a long sleek coffee table as an indoor "Slip and Slide".  She gets a running start and slides across the length of the coffee table on her belly.  She flops off the other end of the coffee table onto the floor laughing.  As she looks back at the slip and slide, there is a huge gouge in the wood running the length of the table.  Perhaps she should have taken off her belt before sliding.

After accidentally receiving her daughter's college bank statement, the Mother sits on a stool at the counter in the kitchen beneath the rotary phone.  On a small sticky note attached to the statement, she writes, "I love you, honey, but you are not rich enough to support my lifestyle."  She places the papers into an envelope and puts it in the "to be mailed" pile.

A young lady returns home from college.  As her Mother walks out of the house thrilled to welcome her home, the girl opens the back door of her Toyota Corolla.  Out of the car hops a beautiful border collie mix, a much larger dog than the family has ever had.  The Mother's face goes from elation to the visual declaration of  "And just where is that thing going to live?" 

A woman goes out to water the lawn.  Water spurts from holes running the entire length of the hose.  A beautiful border collie mix sits in the doorway, wagging her tail, and awaiting her praise.  Who else would have protected the family from that long green snake in the garden!

A young woman stands alone in an empty house.  The coffee table is gone.  There are no posters on the walls.  There is no hose in the garden.  The dog is gone.  The Mother is gone.  Soon the house too, will be gone.  Home to a new family and ready for a new life and memories.



Thanks for the memories, Mom.