I received most of them as gifts and a few belonged to my MIL. When she passed away, I was glad to add some of hers to my favorites.
Anyway, a few weeks ago, I was bored, took this pic of them spread out on the DR table and decided to arrange them differently. After all, they are like toys for grown-ups, right?
Enlisting in the Navy when he was 20, it wasn't until he was 38 that the Pres joined the Fire Department.
While I wasn't with him at that time in his life, I was preoccupied with my early years. Growing up in a rural community, having Angus, horses, Capons (castrated roosters) as a 4-H project, a stray barn cat that I named Clarence (after the lion on Daktari, of course), I moved to the suburbs after I got my job at "the bank." Working full time and raising two kids after I divorced, my tom-boy, love of the outdoors lifestyle had to be set aside for quite a while.
However, it was while working at the bank that I met the Pres. His two daughters and my daughter were high school friends who would bull school together so we would chat about the girls over coffee quite often even though he was dating other women.
One day he called me at the bank, asking me to go to lunch. It was then that he told me he had dinner plans with his girl friend that night and was going to break up with her. "She's so nice...smart, attractive, has her own business. Why are you doing that." I exclaimed. His response was short and sweet. "I decided I want to see you. I noticed you the other day when we were with Jennifer and said to myself, "WOW! What a woman!"
Well, we've been together ever since. Moving into the condo I was renting, we lived together for nearly five years, married and finally found a home in Cheshire, CT.
It was a repo, not far from his Mom's and the price was right. In we went and the Pres began fixing and renovating things like the deck, the kitchen floor, the bathrooms, basement and of course, the yard. His Mom taught me everything I know about perennials. It was there that I met my BFF and resumed my love affair with the outdoors, walking the local trails ten miles every Saturday and Sunday she and our dogs.
Then, ten years later, the Pres retired from the Fire Department and we sold Cheshire. Relocating to VA was just what the Pres wanted and I took an open position in Roanoke with "the bank".
Living there, I was, once again, able to resume my love affair with Nature. However, I missed the kids...and for 8 1/2 yrs, only saw them a few times a year. They got older and so did we and the trip "home" became more taxing.
Bugging the Pres to return to CT, we wanted to remain rural. We found our present home here in Eastern CT. And, unlike the superb Cheshire had become, a rural lifestyle would remain ours but with less land and less house making life in our older years a tad easier.
And finally, Thanksgiving is almost here...please think about those you love. I do.
Hello, it is nice reading your story. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day and the weekend ahead!
Very nicely told! Love the accompanying pictures and the happy ending.
Enjoyed this "illustrated" story, JP, and it's clear that if thise houses could talk they would have plenty to say.
Great story and great collectibles.
great story and a fun way to tell it. my favorite of your collection is the log cabin with the goats in front and yes I saw the fence.
oh, these are adorable memories/decor.
wonderful story and cute collection of wood houses.
How fun is that to make them into a story!
Oh, I so enjoyed reading about your love story with the Pres and with nature!
What a neat collection & such a fun story about how you and your hubby met. I enjoyed it very much.