The "H"

Mom and dad moved from their home at 1301 Buchanan in 2002 after living there for over 43 years. This home had memories of four children growing up and leaving home, a tornado in 1966, grandchildren coming to visit, home projects designed by dad, and family gatherings arranged by mom all echoed within the walls of this large stately home.

One of our regrets was not retrieving the metal "H" on the front door of the home. With each passing year we would drive by the old home place and wonder about the family that moved in and see the "H" on the door reminding us of our years growing up in this home. Could we retrieve the " H" from the door? The Sisters on Wheels have been known to take on some difficult tasks but when this one came to us during the last year we were uncertain about ever achieving our goal. We talked about it and even dreamed of the possibility but until this last week I don't think we ever thought it could be achieved.

So on Wednesday morning we drove to our former home and walked up to the door with our memories and a picture of the house when we lived there. Kay bravely knocked and knocked on the door when a dog started barking. A young girl called through the door to ask who was there and Kay shared our wish to retrieve the "H" from the door. The girl opened the door and said she was sure her mother would allow it but she was at work until 5 and could we come back then. We bounded back to the car with the secret mission of gathering this memory and carrying it forward. After working on decorating at mom and dad's new place we told them we had an errand to run and drove once more down the beautiful tree lined brick paved streets of our childhood.

Kay once more knocked and knocked on the front door without an answer and we sadly walked back to our car. A neighbor sitting on his front porch called to us and asked if we had lived in the house. They moved into the neighborhood the last year mom and dad lived there and throughout our 20 minute conversation we shared how the streets had recovered their beautiful tree lined canopy after the 1966 tornado ripped out all of the trees. We were leaving a phone number for the family of 1301 Buchanan when they arrived home and came to greet us on the front lawn.

The new family moved in to the house in 2003 and had 4 children, two boys and two girls just like us. The 13 year old daughter eagerly shared with Kay that she lived in her former bedroom and had painted it purple just like Kay. The 11 year old boy shared he was in Tom and Lynn's former room with the door leading up to the attic. The mother shared that she had turned the back porch into her sewing room where our mother had her sewing business. They looked at our picture and were amazed to see the "new" trees in our picture were the ones they climbed in now. The mother wanted us to be sure to tell our parents that this was her dream home.

Did we get the "H"? Yes, we had brought screw drivers in our purse just in case!   With a few twists of the wrist we had the "H" in our hands and drove away with new memories of a family growing up in the house we loved.

Now the "H" will grace the home of Lynn and Julie as they have created "Casa Harrison" for all of us to stay when we come home to visit mom and dad. Are we amazed at the sequence of events allowing this to happen? Thrilled beyond Belief!