Beneath my suburban soccer mom SUV driving self is a long-haired brown-eyed, often barefoot, girl who grew up on a 100-acre plus farm near the Kentucky line. I had the pet chickens, the cows, and the mama who loved to garden (and still does and who is absolutely amazing at it).
My parents divorced when I was 7 and after living in Nashville and doing the whole country club Cadillac lifestyle, my mom discovered a beautiful old farmhouse to renovate about 45 minutes north of Nashville. It was her therapy and saving grace after she and my dad split. My mom grew up in the city in Detroit and she’d always dreamed of living on a farm. Because my older siblings were all out of the house by the time I was 10 or so, it was pretty much me and my mama in the boonies, along with a few dozen animals and birds. I even named all our chickens. No doubt had blogs been around back then I would have had a blog about my chickens. I was serious about these birds, ya’ll.
I was quite tickled to receive an invite, along with several other Nashville bloggers, from Hallmark to a breakfast get together downtown recently. It was a treat (minus the search for parking) to spend some time with blogger friends, new and old. We gathered around a table for a writing exercise with some of the amazing creative folks from Hallmark.
In a rush to clean out my car I accidentally threw away my scribbled in blue ink thoughts, but I’ve taken another stab at them and it’s a very nice reminder of my roots.
Let me know if you do the same.
The house I grew up in…isn’t it amazing? My mom has built a smaller, simpler home at the edge of our property but no longer owns this house.
I Come From…
8 miles from town
The youngest of five
Dusty gravel roads
Shiny black patent leather shoes on Sunday and Love Lifted Me
Wooden church pews and Wednesday night supper
Porch swings and ceiling fans
Bare feet and braces
Jungle Juice in a carton and Roman Meal bread
Hide and go seek and kickball…tag you’re it
Hee Haw and pin curls on Saturday night
The smell of dark-fired tobacco and smoke curled around red barns like a gray ribbon
Screen doors and open windows
Quilts stitched with love
Milk gravy and biscuits
Saturday morning cartoons
Falling asleep to bull frog serenades
No Internet or iPhones
Vinyl albums and TVs with rabbit ears
Soybeans and winter wheat
Napping dogs in the shade and the thump thump of happy tails in the cool dust
Flannel nightgowns and milk and cookies
Orange Crush in a bottle and Archie comics
Honeysuckle and four-leaf clovers
Trees to climb and barns to explore
4-H and the county fair
Go Tell Aunt Rhodie and Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
Love
Where do you come from?
p.s. Here’s a link to a great video Hallmark made from our group of Nashville bloggers’ posts. Thanks for the reminder that life is a special occasion.
That is a charming house!
I live in a suburb of Detroit. So maybe following your mother’s footsteps, there’s hope!
I hail from middle Tennessee now, but nothing, absolutely nothing, makes this western Kentucky girl more homesick than the smell of tobacco being fired. Some of the best memories from my childhood are going with my Dad to check barn fires at night; I’d sit in the truck in my PJ’s at watch my Dad as he went about his work by the light of the headlights. Oh, that wonderful smell, the cold air, the warm truck…to go back to that time.
Early this morning
you make your mama
cry
smile
and know how many
blessings she has…..
I come from Southern MS, where it is hot in the summer and I liked to stay in the creek a lot of the time when I was coming up.
Hi Jamie..What a beautiful post this morning. I especially loved the “Where I Come From.” I had glimpses of your childhood…sounds so special.The Hallmark video was fun to watch. Love your blog and your Mama.
Balisha
That is a beautiful property and house. I grew up in Staten Island NY, born about 30 years ago, and experienced a “country” type lifestyle there- it wasn’t built up yet. There was a marsh next to my house where we picked ‘punks’ and plenty of open spaces. Now every last piece of property is built on in that area.
I come from the middle of the hot desert valley in central California, lived there for 25 of my 28 years. Lucky for me, I JUST moved to the beautiful, clean Montana mountains! Thankful that my son can grow up in such a beautiful place rather than the smog-filled valley I did!
Love the Roman Meal. That took me back.
Where I come from…Central Florida before Disney.
Orange groves.
And beaches with a speckling of people.
No air-conditioning.
Nobody cared for Central Florida…before Disney did.
That was fun.
I love this post…I’ve been following your mama’s blog for maybe a year now and she is one beautiful human being…I know you must be too as apples never roll too far from their tree. Your poem is just beautiful. I’m so glad I stopped by.
Lovely to meet you on your blog (via your mom) – you have a lovely and creative “voice” and I look forward to coming back to check out how you are doing. I love your energy and enthusiasm, it reminds me a bit of how I was myself 30 years ago.Every Blessing
I love your I come from list! I cannot believe you are 42! You look SO young! Absolutely beautiful!
I still sing..Go Tell Aunt Rhodie..Our Granny taught us well.
Miss her so much!!
Love the sound of frogs, when sittin on porch, country fair (here next week), sound of truck on dirt road, deer in yard, apple pickin days, thanks for the remind, AR country girl.
Beautiful house Sounds like a nice place to grow up
Wow what a beautiful country home, I grew up in the country but as an adult I had to move to the city to work, boy do I miss the country life, we had a ball walking in the bush, going fishing and making huge fires at night
Such a beautiful house! I am coming from Torrance (CA). It`s the city with a hometown feel for everyone not only for me.. Have you ever been there?
Outside of your parents divorce I love your childhood. I live in GA and also grew up on farm although I grew up on an dairy farm we still had the chicken and pigs and loved it. I had a pig that we played soccer with so I can totally relate when you say you named them. I wish I had it in me to be creative enough to be a blogger!
Your childhood home was made so beautiful by your mother. This is a touching testament to her job as a mom and to your ability to express your memories. For a while, we lived outside of Alpine, Texas on the side of a hill/mountain. When we sat on our front porch in the evenings, we could see javalinas parading in the distance. My sister and I spent many hours outside, and we collected rocks and caught horned toads. I miss those lazy days sans internet and cable tv!
This is so beautiful thank you for sharing.
What a beautiful picture of your house and property. You have an amazing gift for painting a mental picture with your words. Although I didn’t grow up on a farm, I have many of the same memories as you. Thanks for sharing!
jamie –
so glad you posted this! i’m always amazed at the stories such a simple exercise can tell. i just received participant feedback/links from the LIASO Tour, which wrapped up last week in DC. i really wish our crew could’ve stayed on longer in Nashville – it was such a great morning! hope all is well with you – take care!
tom
Beautiful post and your house is really charming Jamie.