More Than an Old House

The House in its original state.

My brother bought an older farm house in the early 1980s, a couple of years after getting married.  It was half a mile from where we grew up.  The house was cold and drafty, and needed a young couple to make it into a warm home.

The first job I recall on the house was an addition around 1990 that added a new kitchen and expanded the living room.  I was just starting out in construction, and followed the lead of an older, life-long carpenter for the bulk of the work. 

 In the subsequent years, other projects were completed, one at a time.  There was a window between two others on the second floor on the front of the house.  Bud didn't like the looks of it, so we covered it over while we were installing replacement windows throughout the rest of the house.  After that project, my younger brother Dean and I added a metal roof.  Later we replaced the floor of the front porch and added some new posts.

The Addition.

Then came a garage remodel.  There was an ugly as sin structure in the back yard that tried to pass as a garage.  We built a new roof over the entire thing, added another eight feet to the front, and covered most of it with metal siding.  It was a vast improvement.  A little shed was added on one end for the mowers.

The Ugly as Sin Poor Excuse for a Garage (in the back).

The day came when Bud and Aleisa decided to give the exterior of the house a facelift, and we installed new vinyl siding after removing the old aluminum.  While we were at it, we uncovered that window we had covered over, because Bud said they liked the looks of it after all.

The laundry room was also in need of a facelift.  It got new paneling, vinyl, and nice colonial colors.  The carpet that was installed when the addition was built became worn and was hard to keep clean.  They picked out some flooring, tore out the carpet, and I installed the new laminate.

New Garage in back, with grandson hamming it up.

At one point, about a year ago, Aleisa brought up some project they were discussing - perhaps it was a bath remodel.  I jokingly said "I think we should just bulldoze the old house down and start fresh.  It would be easier."

It was a dumb comment.   It implied that I was tired of working on the old farm house, which I wasn't.  But worse than that, it missed the whole point of what has been going on for the past 22 years.

Let's just say that 22 years ago, Bud and Aleisa had bought a brand new house, the exact house they wanted... with no further work necessary.  For the next 22 years, there would have been no remodeling.  There would have been no discussions about the projects, no solving of the world's problems with Aleisa as I worked, no coffee breaks and their accompanying conversation, and no satisfaction once the task was finished.  We would have missed all that stuff.  And it wasn't like that time would have been made up in casual visits.  We live 30 minutes apart, just far enough that it's out of the way to just drop in on each other.

It's yet another example of my losing sight of what is important when it comes to work.  My brother and sister-in-law bought an old house.  And I have had the privilege helping them to transform it into something more functional which they take pleasure in.  But of greater importance, I have had the privilege of sharing in their lives and of being in their presence.  They are, after all, my brother and sister.  It's what family is all about.  And not only that, it's what working, in general, is all about.