124) Generations

My older brother, bless his heart, brought my father over to the house today. It’s Dad’s first visit in the year-and-a-half that we’ve been building. Until recently, we didn’t have the requisite handrails on the stairs to enable him to climb them.

All his life Dad’s been a hobby carpenter, usually building something to lighten the load of a neighbour or friend or relative. At 90 years old, he no longer has the agility to climb ladders or the strength to swing hammers or the balance to read a level. If he could have, he’d have been here to help build, just as he helped build our first house 31 years ago (and in 1985 – the time he broke his back climbing a ladder when helping with our addition.)

As we toured the house, I began to absorb that Dad HAS helped build the house, or at least parts of it. There’s his first woodworking project: a shoe-shine bench he made when he was sixteen.

There’s the maple wardrobe/desk unit he built for our daughter. The record box for D. The pine table he repaired, then gave to us. His and Mom’s first chesterfield suite, recovered by us 25 years ago. The treadle sewing machine cabinet he adapted to fit my modern machine. The notions cabinets and refurbished Home Economics table in the studio. His heavy old Craftsman jointer, which has trimmed plenty of stair risers and window trim for this house.

Then, we reach back another generation, and there are Grandma’s light fixtures from the old ranch fireplace and her Chinese seasons paintings. And now that I come to think of it, I’m sure I inherited some gardening skills from Grandma and my mom. In so many ways, my ancestors are with me, building right alongside, in spirit and in genes.

I really wanted Dad to see this home – partly because I value his opinion about building, and partly because he still has a youthful sense of curiosity about everything. I’m so glad he is still mobile and strong enough to walk under his own steam, and that he is interested. The first question he had was about the bookshelves in the living room. Dad is  a voracious reader, who loves history. I thought this would be the best backdrop for the photo proving that Dad was really here.

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