Bye-Bye Old Friend

Today many of my family members will gather near Hanover to say a final farewell to a dear old friend; my Aunt’s farm.

Oh the adventures we had there summer after summer.   Cousins gathered to hang out together and, yes, drink plenty of beer. We had bonfires and weenie roasts, especially that time cousin John passed out and rolled into the fire!  But seriously folks. 

large white farmhouse with a flat front

(Not the actual farmhouse, but a farmhouse nonetheless.)

It was the scene of happy Christmases, wedding and baby showers, a thousand cookouts and a million laughs.  My Uncle died a few years ago and now it’s just time for my Aunt to move on to something more manageable.  So today we’re having one final get-together to share our memories. 

In my youth, there was only an outhouse.   I think that’s when I developed my aversion to getting up in the night to pee.  I vividly recall their acquisition of an indoor toilet.  One toilet for 9 people.  I can’t even share a bathroom with one other person for very long! 

We went into town to rollerskate and attend Chickenfest.  Sometimes dozens of us slept over in sleeping bags and in the morning after a party the house looked like a scene out of the Jonestown massacre. We visited the cows at the farm across the street and rode the horses from the farm down the road.  We canoed on a nearby lake and camped out under the stars on hot summer nights.  It was so much fun!

We won’t lose our memories just because we won’t have the place to go to anymore.  Bye bye, farm.  It was really good to grow up with you.