Ok... so when last we posted, we had just said our good-byes to Becky and Sherry at the grave site of our grandparents.
Then we all headed back to the airbnb in Iowa Falls.
Mom wanted to see Iowa Falls as she had lived there briefly with her dad, stepmother and sister, Karin when she was a young teen. It is also the last place my grandmother lived in Iowa... before she got moved to hell. (I mean Texas. But once in Texas, my grandmother forever missed her beloved Iowa and was convinced she was now living in hell.) Iowa Falls means a great deal to me as well. As an adult I too visited my grandmother in Iowa Falls. Probably one of my last visits to Iowa until this year. I remember having such a sweet visit with my grandmother. Going out to a little cafe for pie. Sitting and visiting and spending time together. I also remember the sad little room she lived in at the hotel, and how she would carefully place about 20 or 30 pieces of scotch tape on the door when leaving her residence and how she would carefully examine each piece of tape upon returning. For those following who do not know, my grandmother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Life for her was not easy. Life with her was not always easy either. On this trip she gave me one of those cheap plastic pitchers banks would often give out during the holidays to their customers. I still have my pitcher. It brings back happy memories of that trip to Iowa Falls to visit my real Iowa Grandma. (That is how she would sign all her cards and letters to me so that I would know SHE was my real grandma and not that hussy who later married my grandfather; the hussy was an imposter!)
My mom also wanted to drive around Hampton, which is close to Iowa Falls. If you haven't noticed, my mom got moved around a LOT as a kid. She was shuffled between family members and even those family members would often move. Moving around so much can be traumatic for some people, especially when they are young and have no control over the situation or the houses into which they will be placed. Some moves were hard, but some moves were wonderful. The move to Hampton was a good move for my mom, and these were some of the "fun" memories from her youth.
We decided everyone did not necessarily need to drive around Iowa Falls and Hampton, so we left the younger kids behind with Mark and Dustin while we set out...
In our vehicle were mom, me, Jenni, Eden and Danny with Janelle behind the wheel.
We drove around Hampton checking out the town, and we looked for the old high school. It was not to be found and we decided it must have been torn down like so many other older buildings.
Then mom was determined to find the house she had lived in. She remembered that it was one block from the courthouse, and from her closet window, which sat in the upstairs back of the house, she had a great and unobstructed view of the courthouse. She would often look out that window to see if anything was happening in the town square. If people were gathering about, mom would run over to the courthouse and join in on the fun.
The problem we faced was, while mom knew the house was one block off the courthouse, she had no idea if it was to the north, south, east or west.
We drove each of those directions. No house seemed right. We drove those blocks again. No house seemed right. We kept circling those blocks. No house seemed right.
This was how much of our conversation went as we drove around and around the courthouse and those blocks:
Mom: That house looks right!
Us: The back of that house isn't facing the courthouse.
Mom: Oh, yeah. You're right.
Us: Are you SURE the window was in the BACK of the house? Not on the side?
Mom: No, not on the side. I clearly remember my room was in the back of the house with my closet being in the back. The window WAS IN THE BACK OF THE HOUSE FACING THE COURTHOUSE. (Mom was adamant and determined that window was in the BACK!)
Us: OK, let's keep looking.
Danny: We've been down this street.
Janelle: It's OK. We have time, and this is what we came to do. We can drive this street again.
Danny: We've already circled this block.
Janelle: It's fine. We can circle it again. Aunt Jan wants to find her house. This is what we came for.
Mom: Oooh, that one looks right.
Us: The back of that one is not facing the courthouse.
Mom: Oh. Right.
Repeat.
And repeat.
This went on for a while. It actually became funny and we really were all trying to help her find THE HOUSE, and we all wanted her to find THE HOUSE, but, alas, we never did.
There was one block that had a parking lot with an empty lot next to it. We finally decided since none of the houses we found were right, perhaps mom's house had been where the empty lot or parking lot were now. The location and view seemed to fit.
**sidenote** After the fact. As we were driving home. When we were not only not in Hampton anymore, we were not even in Iowa anymore, I said to mom, "I know you don't remember your address in Hampton, but we should have paid more attention to the street names. Maybe one of the names would have jogged your memory." To which my mom said, and I kid you not, "You know I was thinking about that again. I think maybe the window was on the side of the house and not in the back!" What!? Seriously!? "But", said I, "you were so adamant it was in the back." "Yeah", said she, "I was." Le sigh **
When we finally gave up the search, we stopped in at the cutest little coffee shop and book store. Eden was in heaven. We adults sat and chatted with our coffees, while Eden went and scoped out the books.
**sidenote** Eden is truly a sweet, sweet girl who often puts the needs of others before herself. Eden and Jenni were going to share a strawberry shake, but it was me and Eden who were doing the ordering. The woman asked if Eden wanted whipped topping on her shake, and Eden replied, "Mommy doesn't like whipped topping, so no." I asked, "but do YOU like whipped topping?" She said she did. Thankfully the woman behind the counter heard all this, and she split the shake in two. Jenni's sans topping; Eden's with. But just the fact that Eden was thinking more of her mommy than herself touched my heart. Oh, and for all those wondering why I was drinking coffee in a cute coffee shop when I say over and over how I do not like coffee, I got a pumpkin pecan caramel latte, believe me when I say I did not taste any coffee!! 😎😄 **
Time to check back in with the little ones and the guys. What were they doing whilst we were gone all afternoon? They had built a fire and the guys were drinking whiskey while the little ones were roasting marshmallows and making smores. They were not missing us at all.
That evening we went to eat at the Princess Grill and Pizzeria. A quaint and friendly restaurant with the largest soda fountain remaining in the country. We enjoyed a delicious meal. We had the adults at one table, and the kids at another. That didn't last too long. None of his sisters would help little James figure out the puzzles on his placemat, so Danny told James to come sit with him, and Danny took James under his wing. James was thrilled!
After dinner mom, Danny and Janelle headed back to Boone and their Adequate 8. The rest of us back to the airbnb where the fire, marshmallows and whiskey continued into the night.
Oh yeah, and something about the Astros taking the World Series that night too.....
**sidenote** I asked my mom to read over this blog post before I shared it with everyone. What follows are her notes to me **
And about Hampton. While we were there I was thinking I came in the front door and went straight up the stairs. And that was totally wrong. I came in the front door into the living room and at the back of the living room there was this beautiful wooden staircase that went from left to right. When I ran up the stairs I ran straight into my room. My closet was to the right with the window not on the back of the house but on the side very close to the front. So see, now that I have it all figured out we have to take the trip all over again........
Iowa Falls. I never lived there with mother. Karin and I lived briefly in Iowa Falls with Dad and Grace. In my 9th grade I moved from Perryville to Boone to Iowa Falls. Karin disappeared in Iowa Falls. Then dad and Grace and I moved to Hampton for my 10th grade then to Boone for 11th and 12th. And I'm not even sure about the 11th - I have no memories of that year!
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