A Sense of Pride

My husband was a sharecropper's son and his dream was to have his own farm. Well, we got the chance to buy the farm near the farm we were working. I was 20 and Percy was 23 when we signed the mortgage. It was 1953 and we still stayed on at "the old red store" until we could get a home built. We moved into our newly built home in 1956. It was so close we moved our belongings with the tractor and trailer. I have never moved again. It became the home place for our two sons. Mama and Daddy were glad we had our own place. They visited us many times at this home. They knew the value of having your own place.

Excerpt from Shadow of the Sawmill by Rachel Britt Morton

My grandmother wrote these words in 2004 or 2005 in a book she had professionally bound and printed and gave to all her family members and close friends. I have always been very proud to have this book because not many people have a written chronicle of their ancestry.

As you can see, my grandparents were very proud to be able to buy their own land to farm and to raise their family. When my parents got married, they were given land to put in a trailer, and then, a few years later when my parents were getting ready to have me, my grandparents gave them another plot of land and helped them build a house. This is the house that Matthew and I hope to move into this year.

I had started feeling badly about changing our plans from moving to the mountains to moving to Jacksonville. Matthew grew up in the mountains of Virginia and he's always felt more at home there than anywhere else and, I have to say, I feel at home there, too. I could tell he was feeling badly about our plans changing last weekend when we went to Boone for the day because driving up the mountain into the town didn't have the same effect on him that it usually does.

We've talked about it a couple of times since then and I think he's starting to come to terms with it. He's started talking about the pros of moving down there (such as someone to help him learn to hunt and fish, being able to move sooner than we would have otherwise, and having family connections in case we need anything to name a few) and he has even mentioned that it's important to maintain family land. When he said this to me, it kind of struck me. He's right. It is important to maintain family land. That land that my grandparents worked so hard to save for, buy and profit from. That land that has so much of my history tied into it. That connection to my family and to the earth is very important to me right now.

Today I took a long Sunday nap and I dreamed about my grandfather. I don't do this often because losing both of my grandfathers was one of the hardest things I have ever faced and, Matthew will tell you, I can barely talk about them without tears welling up in my eyes. I can't remember much of my dream but I remember recognizing him and crying and I remember feeling that he was proud of me.

I'm starting to feel really really good about this decision. I'm not crazy about the Jacksonville area but I remain convinced that this is the right step and I think my family (my grandfather included) agrees with me.

We have one of our monthly family reunions on Saturday (for my mom's mom's family) and I think I will tell my grandmother what we are planning then. I can't wait.

Also, thank you to Homesteading Today for linking to me as an interesting blog to read during their server move!