PORCH PONDERINGS

My Lasts

PROMPT May 27th

Write about your first _______. (You fill in the blank. Ex: first car, first job, first crush, first week at college, etc)


I thought for a bit about this prompt. Then I decided I would do a different take. I decided to write about the 'lasts' in my life. My last husband and my last house and home. I know I saved the best for last.

I had two husbands before my current love. Let's just say I'm a slow learner. But he's a keeper and he is definitely the love of my life and the last love I'll ever have.

I’ve lived in quite a few different homes. I counted them at one time. I decided to start keeping track; you know, for fits and giggles. I thought I still had that list, but it's nowhere to be found. Darn. It is in the double digits, that I know.

We decided to buy this small house in Roundup, Montana. The first time we drove through this small burg we were less than impressed. It struck us as sad and depressed. But maybe that was our state at the time. We wanted to be out in the country, not in a town.

But here we are, smack in the middle of a small Montana town, where God has seen fit to put us. So we are making the best of it.

We purchased this two-bedroom, century-old home on a small lot with our savings. Since we bought it, we’ve been remodeling to make it reflect more the spirit of the time in which it was built.

Our home shows up in the old photos from the 1920s. It has gone through some changes, but the main bones are still here and still sturdy. When we remodeled the dining room we found some items in the wall, a child’s school book and a ball from the ’20s. I put them in my memory box.

With a bit of help, but mainly our own hard work, we’ve redone the woodwork, installed better windows, remodeled the bathroom, and insulated the crap out of this place to help keep out the winter winds. The kitchen was remodeled before we moved in, we just replaced the dated countertops.

So we live our quiet little lives in this humble little town. A place where people still wave to you as you walk by, as you drive down the street, no matter if they know you or not. This town is a tight-knit community of kind-hearted people with generous hearts. But that’s the attitude of most of the small towns in Montana.

We love living in Big Sky country.