Back over the fall, Matthew’s family got a phone call saying
that the family’s old homeplace was being sold and the children, grandchildren,
etc needed to come take any of the remaining items they wanted and clear the
house out. So Matthew’s parents reserved
a few things for us that were near and dear to our hearts – a set of elk
antlers that belonged to Matthew’s grandfather (maybe even his
great-grandfather) and a very old claw foot bath tub (one that his grandmother
bathed his mother in when she was an infant).
We just had to make the couple hour trip to the homeplace to pick them
up.
Matthew suggested we make a trip of it. He convinced our friends, Gabe and Elizabeth,
to go with us (Gabe to help Matthew move that several hundred pound tub down a
flight of stairs; and his wife Elizabeth to keep me company!) The fellas were completely in charge of the
trip – they planned for us to go camping on the family’s land and even bought
all the essentials and groceries that we would need to stay. How sweet!
[this was Matthew’s ploy to get me to camp; otherwise I would have
stayed in my warm comfy bed at home!!]
So we went. On
possibly the coldest weekend we had that fall.
I was 8 weeks pregnant. And it
was 36 degrees. So guess who I made hold
the flashlight every time I had to get up to pee that night? My wonderful husband!! But I don’t think he minded much. Me? I
just kept envisioning soaking for an hour in that claw foot bathtub!
That night, I slept with underarmor leggings, sweat pants, two
pairs of socks, a shirt, a sweater, a sweatshirt, a toboggan on my head, and a
headband/ear warmers on my face (over my nose).
It was ridiculous!!
And here’s what my husband wore:
I may have been pregnant, but I hadn’t gotten to the “hot
part” of pregnancy yet. Darn.
Despite the cold, we had so much fun!! The guys found a canoe and made their own
oars.
While hunting through the woods, Gabe found a spread. Matthew found a bear…
We visited the family graveyard, and what was left of the
original house.
Was this an old organ??
Oh, hello, snake skin.
It was amazing to discover all these things and see the life
of my husband’s family. Not only was it
such a gorgeous place, but it was just something about it. When we visited the land, the old home, the
family graveyard, I felt a connection to these people that I (or my husband)
had never been able to meet. Maybe it
was the feel of it all, or maybe it was just the pregnancy hormones, but I
found myself several times in tears. It
was such a wonderful trip!!! Even if I
couldn’t feel my toes or noses and had to rough it way out of my comfort zone
for one night.
We went to pick up material possessions, but the things we
discovered were much grander than that.
The things we got to bring home … they were just a bonus. The claw foot bathtub, may need a little
work.
But those elk antlers fit perfectly around our fireplace.
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