This House

 Being the daughter of a military father, I didn’t have “a house” where I could put roots down…until I married a farm boy from Indiana. We are living on the corner in the little house where he was born and raised.  It is a blessing to be the fourth generation to own this house.  Grandpa Hochstedler sold it to Polly & Alvin Miller who sold it to Hilda & Vernon Schrock who sold it to us.  

My understanding is that it didn’t always sit on the corner (literally on the corner). At one time, it sat back somewhere around the old hickory tree that is in the field.  How I wish it were still sitting back there although it makes it a lot easier to get out on the roads in the winter where it is located now.  

Hilda & Vernon were married in this house in what we now call the "schoolroom" because that is where we had school during our homeschooling days.  It is actually the front room of the house. It used to be a front porch and a front room, but Hilda & Vernon remodeled to make the size of the front room more suitable for a growing family. When Curt & Julie lived with us, it served as our bedroom.  I liked the idea of having a huge bedroom with a sitting room, but Marlin never was sold on the idea so after they moved to Warsaw, we moved our bedroom back to the back end of the house.

When Ben went to Iraq the second time, Monica moved into the back bedroom.  Their California King size bed took up most of the bedroom.  Looking back now, I realize I should have put them in the schoolroom with a bed that size, but at the time, it just hadn't occurred to me.

Currently Joe & Mal are currently living with us until they get their Greentown Property fixed up. They are living in the upstairs where Emilie once had her bedroom until she got married. I think our kids have lived in just about every bedroom in this house at one time or another. Emilie is the only one that has never lived with us while married. Perhaps someday.

This house holds countless memories for me. This was the house I went to when I met Marlin's parents for the first time when we started dating back in high school. This was the house I went to when I learned how to plant and grow a garden, something this Air Force Child had never done before. This was the house we walked to nearly every day when the kids were little to say hello to Grandma & Grandpa and fill their bellies full of treats....and this was the house we moved into when Emilie was less than 2 years old...a house for family dinners, and picnics, and bon fires, and mock wedding, and summer proms, and boys who thought they were good at skateboarding building half pipes (or whatever they're called), and making movies about the Son of Sod...

It was a good house for raising four children.  

I love this house and I love all of you who made memories with me!