Episode 2 - Ghosted

CLICK HERE TO READ ***Spoiler Alert*** Have you listened to Episode Two?

Meg and I reenact the moment my mom says, "There he is!" while being interviewed about her ghostly sightings a few weeks earlier. This is the woodpile we are talking about. Listen to Episode 3 to find out if it really was a ghost!

This is the old family farm we talk about in Episode 2. I was blown away by the kindness and generosity of the couple living there, who let us tour the home—even though they were literally on their way out the door to a wedding. I hope to visit them again before they move. I may bring a pick-ax for the basement. Just in case.

Until I found these photos, I thought the house was white. Flawed memories.

The first image is me standing in front of the house as it is today. You can see the new addition on the left. The waterfront is at the front of the house, with a clear view from the living room window. The tennis courts are visible from the side window. Honestly, I might not have recognized the house if the tennis courts weren’t still there.

The third image shows the barns, which you can compare to the older photo below from my childhood. I don’t think the white building in the new photo is the same barn from back then. The original barn had a giant second-floor hayloft where we kids used to hang out, and this one looks more like a shed. Unfortunately, I don’t have any other photos to confirm.

The horse was named Misty. She had a tendency to take off at full speed through the orchards, bashing the rider with branches along the way.

The doctor who lived there bought the place from my dad for their retirement, but his wife unexpectedly died just months after they moved in and renovated the first floor. He lived there alone for over 35 years. That must be why the upstairs was never touched.

As you can see in images eight and nine, the upstairs is exactly the way it was in my youth. That’s my old bedroom and bathroom. I’m pretty sure the carpet, wallpaper, and even the beds are the same. My daughter said, “It looks like Anne Frank lived here.” It was like a cottage for us, and typical of the time. People lived much more simply back then. Of course, there was no Pinterest or Homesense to fuel style envy.

My dad’s only dying regret was selling this farm, which really surprised me. I was sad to learn the house is going to be torn down. But with lakefront property at a premium, I understand why. The house is a real higgledy-piggledy mess of additions, so I don’t think it would make a good renovation project.

A vineyard has replaced the orchard. My dad was a wine aficionado and always dreamed of having a vineyard. He’d be happy to know it became one. On his deathbed, we opened his long-stored $2,000 bottle of vintage wine and gave him a few sips. We used the wine crate to hold his ashes. We know he would have wanted it that way.

In a later episode, you’ll hear the parallel between this farm and the one from my dad’s youth in wartime France. Both places remained unchanged over the years, and both of us returned to our childhood farms.