Black and White. Old photos, my farm, my home, my heart.
Old photos of my farm. The history here may be the best thing about living on my grandparents’ old farm. My mom’s cousin came and visited us and always our conversations turn to olden times and the old photos come out. Knowing so many people loved this place over the years and being able to hear their stories adds so much to my life here. We put together a family reunion a few years back and meeting family I had never met before was really cool but the neatest part was picking up their old family photo albums and seeing old photos of my farm! Knowing people I had not even ever met were sharing memories of this place from years upon years ago was absolutely incredible.
Of all the memories though and old photos there are just a few that really tug at me. They are those photos of my mom. Knowing I’m standing right where she was, touching the same wood, sleeping in the same room where she grew up, it makes me feel close to her in a way I never knew was possible.
When I was renovating this house there were so many times I felt like I was retracing my grandma’s foot steps when she was my age. They renovated this old farm house too over 60 years ago and when I was picking out paint colors with excitement and heart fluttering, I knew they were the same happy feelings my Grandma had felt too. Every time I was faced with a nightmare disaster during those long months, it felt like she had been there too and it gave me an incredible amount of comfort. Knowing she got through her own hard times here made me feel like I was never alone.
Maybe never more then during my divorce and now the months afterward have I thought about my grandma and how strong she was. My grandma lost most of her eye sight and lived in this old house alone for many years after my grandpa passed. People have asked me, “Don’t you get scared or lonely or anything being in that old farmhouse all alone!?” But I don’t feel alone. Call it ghosts maybe lol but this house took care of my grandma when she was alone and it took care of my mom and aunt in all their crazy kid years growing up here.
The first time I was in this home I was carried through the front door by my mom when I weighed only about seven pounds. It is the same front door then as it is now. Throughout my own crazy kid years I cannot count the number of times I raced up those same steps and I remember it often when I come home. For a split second I am eleven years old again, running up the steps, opening the same screen door and it was always a good thing, always something to look forward to. My grandparents made this a safe place. When my life was in ruin this is where I ran to.
Most specifically it was the barn I ran to. During the worst days before my divorce that’s where I still went and hid and cried like a kid. In the same spot I cried when my grandpa died and the same place I cried when we lost grandma too. And it reminded me that a divorce was nothing in the face of helping carry the casket of someone you love.
There were a few months there when this safe place had been taken from me. Of all the years this home had been my refuge, he made this farm a place I feared and a place I no longer wanted to go to. It was with that realization that my ending of his time here was no longer a choice but simply long past due.
The minute I finally got him out of here everything returned. The love. The laughter. My eleven year old self racing up those steps anticipating happy things again. I still feel a pull of regret that I allowed someone in my family’s home who did not deserve to be here. Because this farm will never just be mine. It is anyone’s happy memory in old photos that ever visited this place. Everyone who recalls my grandpa’s always smiling face or my grandma’s incredible crazy cake. They were so loved and I hope they know I feel their love here every day.
My grandparents Arvid and Charlotte with my aunt Sharon (left) and my mom Marilyn (right) in the 1950s..
My grandparents Arvid and Charlotte were the Farmer’s of the Year in our county in the late 1960s.
The barn in 1963.
The barn in 2017.
My mom Marilyn in 1966.
My aunt Sharon (on the far left), my mom Marilyn (far right), their cousin Dennis and his dog Chum (sitting down) and their cousin Donald (standing) in 1966.
Mom mom Marilyn with her first boyfriend in 1970.
Photo of the house in the 1990s.
The barn with my grandparents Arvid and Charlotte in 1966.
The barn in 2017.
The farmhouse in 1966.
The farmhouse in 2017.
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I’m Tarah!
It’s been a hell of a ride since I started this blog and renovated and moved into this old farm house back in 2015. I got married, divorced, lost my doggo soul mate, spent two years as a single gal, remodeled everything, threw my back out countless times and was even found by an amazing guy in my own backyard! (The story behind Storyhardt Farm.)
Around here we’re totally fearless when it comes to bettering our home. We love to refinish old furniture, re-purpose old pieces, build it from scratch and totally renovate anything that needs it! If we can do it – so can you. We’ve got some serious plans for this old farm and, for first time ever, I have a real partner!
This is gonna be so much fun!
You can also find out more about the amazing Grandma behind this blog who moved in to this old farmhouse with my Grandpa nearly 70 years ago!
geez! do you ever look like your grandpa!! has anyone ever told you that?? i love old black and white photos. thanks for sharing these with us……
Thank you Kathie!!
Love old, black and white photos, particularly those of family and their homes. You should create a photo wall with them.
That’s a great idea Debbee, thanks for coming by!
WONDERFUL old pictures that make me want to go digging around in my closet for a B&W photo marathon!
Thank you for coming by!!
I love this story and all the pics! I feel the same way about my grandparent’s farm. Sadly, most everything was torn down when the farm was sold but my dad did save the cow barn and had it moved to the pasture that my parents bought….the only part of the farm that is still in our family since the 1880’s. They’ve slowly been turning it into a cabin and I love that we still have that piece of family history that is so strongly rooted in so many of my memories. Even though we only get to go back once or twice a year it still is and always will be….home! Just yesterday my mom mentioned that when my kids grow up they might eventually want to sell the cabin and pasture and my 8 year old vehemently denied it and told her never because she has so many happy memories there and she would never sell a place that made her so happy! I love that even at this age she “gets it” and I’m happy that all the pictures and stories and memories will continue through the generations!
Oh Sheri you made my heart so glad to hear what your little one said! Maybe I’m just sentimental but I’m so glad I was able to make my Grandma’s house my own, I run into memories here every day and every where. We cleaned out the old machine shed on my property and it was like I was standing right by my grandpa the whole time. Remembering him with his farm equipment and how happy farming and milking made him is just so good for my soul. It is just like you said: Home!
What wonderful family history you have in your home! All of the old photos were lovely. Thank you for sharing your family farm with us on Party in Your PJ’s!
Thank you Teresa, have a wonderful weekend!
Reminds me of my growing up years. Simpler times. Found you on Blogger’s Pit Stop Link party
Thank you for coming by Candy!!
What a lovely piece of writing and about lovely people too. You are carrying the family resemblance as you look like your Mom who looks like her Dad. Good luck!
Thank you Jocelyn when I pulled that old photo of my mom, her sister and their two cousins I had to do a double take, honestly I looked EXACTLY like her when I was that age! lol Thank you for coming by, have a lovely weekend!
Beautiful! Every home should have a wonderful history. And now you’re adding to it too!
Thank you for joining The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned.
Thank you!!
I see I’m not the only one commenting on the strong family resemblance. I saw that first pic and I thought that was you, until I read the names, it was your mother. Great post.
Thanks Sandy!!
I am so glad that you have many happy memories of growing up with your grandparents and of the farm.
Love the car — Can’t stand today’s cars. Every car looks the same and the dashboards are so stuffed with computer “crap” that you almost need a computer science degree to drive a vehicle now days.
Thanks Sandra, have a great week!
I thought the same thing some of the others did, you look a lot like your grandpa! Old photos are such treasures, thanks for sharing this with us at the Homestead Blog Hop!
Thank you so much Ann!!
I have been enjoying your blog (found you on Raising Homemakers link-up) for many months. While I have loved your updates this special walk down memory lane has made it even more special as a reader. Thank you for sharing your family pictures!
Oh Amy, thank you so much for visiting and commenting!
Tarah, it was great to tour your house last summer. With a lot of love and sweat it has under gone an amazing transformation, but still retains the character and style your grand parents would be proud of. I am happy it still has an occupant that loves it and who finds peace and happiness within its walls. I hope it stays in your family for generations to come.
Vern, thank you so much! It was definitely a labor of love for me and I plan to be here the rest of my life. Hopefully someone else in the family will want the home when I’m gone 🙂
Ahhhh, Tarah. You wrote about my two most favorite things, old pictures, and old stories about family…LOVE the pictures and love the memories you stirred in me of my own childhood days at my grandma’s farm… THANKS~~~
Thank you Sue!!!!
What a great job you have done with the farm! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!
Thanks Sherry, have a great week!
i love your stories of growing up with your grand parents ,i to loved being with my grand parents …so loved them and still miss them also…i too wanted to live on their property but didn’t have the funds to buy out the family the three sisters of my mom’s and they sold it all…so proud of you to keep this very special home and life of the past to keep it going for more to come to enjoy …thank you for the wonderful stroll down memory lane…love it …keep up this great way of sharing with all of us…
Madeline, it is so wonderful to hear from you! It was definitely the stars aligning that made it just right and possible for me to buy my grandparents home and farm. I was in the right place in my life and was looking for something. It really just felt like it was all meant to be, I am so relieved and fortunate to be able to have care for the home!
I love your house Tarah, I’m sure it truly is of sentiment to you! I wish back in the days, there were companies like The Top Cleaner that would help people find the best companies to clean houses, me and my siblings were 8 + my parents, so my house was always a mess!
Issa, thanks so much for coming by and commenting. Happy Halloween!
I love the old pictures and yes I saw you in your grandpas pictures!
Thank you so much Darlene, the older I get the more I see it too!
It’s amazing to see the history of your home in these wonderful old photos.
I wish we still had our grandparents home, which was always a sanctuary.
Thank you Eve, I was very fortunate to be able to save this home of ours <3