The House That Built Me

	Miranda Lambert - The House That Built Me .mp3
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My life has never been what you call steady. I don't know where "home" is other than Heaven. My family has moved around A LOT. Sometimes life can get so confusing, and I don't know where I am. I have lived a life that only few could understand. People have come and gone from my life, and it's hard to say goodbye.
But I guess if you were to ask me where I'm from, I will tell you Kingsport Tennessee. My Grandmothers house has been a steady place for me. A place where I find happiness, and relief from the world. Memories come back, and many more are made every time I visit. The first thing I do when I get home is head for the picture albums. I love to look at pictures! Stories are told and remembered; everything in her house-from dishes to toys and even furniture-holds a memory of something I never want to forget. My family and I get together quite often throughout the year, celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, reunions, and homecomings of a Soldier. I love to be with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, but most of all I enjoy being with my Grandmama. She is a dear sweet woman with so much wisdom, love, and understanding, and she has instilled much of it in me.
In the room I normally sleep in while visiting, there is a blue chair from the eighties that sits in a corner. There are stains on it, and it has a slight odor, but I love to sit in that chair and think about my granddaddy. I remember him sitting in that blue chair, and how I would sit in his lap and how we would color together. It is the only distinct memory I have of him; he died when I was five. I still color, and every time I do I think of him. In that same room I remember my cousin Laura and I snooping around in the closet dragging out some old clothes playing dress up. We were in clothes and shoes twice our size!
Thanksgiving is a very important time of year at her house. I love the smell of Thanksgiving dinner cooking! I have memories of helping my Aunts in the kitchen either peeling potatoes, or helping put together the apple cranberry dish. My Aunt Linda and I like to set the table nicely and properly, putting every utensil, and dish in it's correct place.
There is a basement in her house; it's scary down there when you are alone. My older cousins would always tease me about the basement, saying the boogie man lives down there or a witch that would come out if I disturbed her. Now even at 21, I'm still afraid to go to the basement alone. In the basement there is a refrigerator from the 1940's that still works! She uses it to store the overflow food for events such as Thanksgiving. Besides the basement stories, my cousins also scared me about the closets. No matter how many times I look in them, I will always be convinced "the witch" or "boogie man" lives in there.
I hope to pass these and other stories down to the next generation of my family and that someday they will be able to experience similar memories, and find happiness in the little things. It is also my hearts desire to give my children a more steady life than I have had. But more than anything what matters most is what it says in Joshua 1:9 "The Lord is with you wherever you." How I have clung to that verse!