Leaving your grandparent's house is always a bittersweet ordeal.
My most recent visit to my grandma's house was a little different. It was the most bittersweet goodbye I think I've ever made to a house.
Why? Well, let me tell you a little story.
32 S. LeSeuer was the gathering place for the Jones family for many many years.
My grandpa Jones helped his father and brothers build it back in the 40's, and it has been the center of many a family memory.
It was unlike any other house.
Partially because of the unique architecture, but mostly because of all the memories that were made there.
If those walls could speak, you would be told the most beautiful stories about families and love and heartbreak and happiness and pain.
This was more than just a house. It was a home. It was a place where you felt loved.
A place where you could almost forget your worries and just enjoy grandpa's singing, or listen to his war stories, or have grandma teach you how to crochet.
A place to pick all the lemons, oranges, grapefruits and tangelos that you could possibly eat.
It was a place where you could run around with cousins that you hadn't seen in years.
A place that hosted many a family Sunday dinner.
A place where we learned how to play the family game of 'Rook' and stayed up way past our bedtimes.
A place to see all the Christmas lights at the Temple right from the front window.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and nothing stays the same forever.
This house, with all its decades of memories, will be demolished later this year.
The LDS church is renovating the Mesa Temple, as well as turning the block that my grandparent's house is on into church buildings.
Now, there is a new place for us to make family memories.
Except, it will be different.
There will be no citrus trees to climb or hallways to run around.
No pomegranate bush or front porch to sit and talk for hours.
But that's all just stuff.
The cool thing about memories? You can always make more.
We will still have family gatherings and play card games with grandma.
There will still be girls nights and sleepovers and all the good things that really matter in life.
The only thing truly missing will be my sweet grandfather, but I know he's just as happy watching us make these new memories from his spot up in heaven.
Happy Father's Day grandpa.
My most recent visit to my grandma's house was a little different. It was the most bittersweet goodbye I think I've ever made to a house.
Why? Well, let me tell you a little story.
32 S. LeSeuer was the gathering place for the Jones family for many many years.
My grandpa Jones helped his father and brothers build it back in the 40's, and it has been the center of many a family memory.
It was unlike any other house.
Partially because of the unique architecture, but mostly because of all the memories that were made there.
If those walls could speak, you would be told the most beautiful stories about families and love and heartbreak and happiness and pain.
This was more than just a house. It was a home. It was a place where you felt loved.
A place where you could almost forget your worries and just enjoy grandpa's singing, or listen to his war stories, or have grandma teach you how to crochet.
A place to pick all the lemons, oranges, grapefruits and tangelos that you could possibly eat.
It was a place where you could run around with cousins that you hadn't seen in years.
A place that hosted many a family Sunday dinner.
A place where we learned how to play the family game of 'Rook' and stayed up way past our bedtimes.
A place to see all the Christmas lights at the Temple right from the front window.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and nothing stays the same forever.
This house, with all its decades of memories, will be demolished later this year.
The LDS church is renovating the Mesa Temple, as well as turning the block that my grandparent's house is on into church buildings.
Now, there is a new place for us to make family memories.
Except, it will be different.
There will be no citrus trees to climb or hallways to run around.
No pomegranate bush or front porch to sit and talk for hours.
But that's all just stuff.
The cool thing about memories? You can always make more.
We will still have family gatherings and play card games with grandma.
There will still be girls nights and sleepovers and all the good things that really matter in life.
The only thing truly missing will be my sweet grandfather, but I know he's just as happy watching us make these new memories from his spot up in heaven.
Happy Father's Day grandpa.
