In August of 1999, my family packed up our house in
Mississippi and moved north, back to Maine.
At the time, there were several reasons for us to make the move. Primarily, my mom really missed living close
to her family and my Dad was re-re-relocating with a new, old job (the funny
thing about my Dad’s employment history is that for a time, he bounced back and
forth with the same employers in Mississippi [Baptist hospital] and Maine
[Waterville Osteopathic/Inland]).
Fortunately, he had a profession that travelled well (dietitian). So we said goodbye to our friends down there,
loaded up the moving truck, piled into our maroon van (see road trip blog) and
silver Ford Escort and headed north! A couple
of days and many states later, we were back in Maine on a permanent basis for
the first time since I was 3. When we
moved up, my parents, not being able to look at houses properly, decided that
they wanted to rent for at least the first year, while we got a feel for the
area and schools. So for our first year
in Maine, we lived in the recognizable “House with the yellow door.” It was a convenient location, but in the end,
it was most practical to buy. It took my parents a little
over a year to find a house that was: 1. In their price range, 2. In a good
area, 3. Met their high expectations for a home that would suit a family of
four boys. Finally in October of 2000
(just before my birthday), they settled on a house, and that is the subject of
this blog post.
When we first moved into the house on Mathews Ave, my
parents made the decision knowing that it was a bit of a fixer upper (pardon
the Frozen reference). The basement was
unfinished, it needed a top to bottom paint job, the yard was a mess, the
kitchen needed a new floor, it needed a new roof, etc… Luckily for them, they had four boys who they
could put to work, to help them make this stone a diamond. After a considerable amount of work, my
parents deemed it ready for the Spofford family, and so I got a new birthday
present of a new home. This place was so
cool!! It had a big yard that we could
play soccer in, woods behind the house that we could explore, a baseball field
day the street, our basketball hoop in the driveway, and garage doors that
could double as a soccer goal (much to my parents’ chagrin). It was really well equipped for a family of
four boys. The only thing that it seemed
to be missing was a proximity to my friends (I soon learned that this was
untrue). Now, sixteen years later, my
parents made the decision to sell the house to move (for all the right reasons)
into my grandparents’ house (which was built by my Mimi and Papa), and I find
myself reminiscing about all of my great memories from Mathews Ave.
Yesterday, I searched “Waterville Maine real estate,” on
Google, clicked on Zillow, and much to my surprise, the very first thing I saw
was the street view of my house. When I saw it, I was surprised by the immediate
memories that flooded in. Rather than
visions of Isaiah and I playing football in the front yard or basketball in the
driveway, I had a vivid memory of us sitting on the sidewalk in front of the
house eating popsicles (probably root beer flavored). Then the memories really started to flood in:
the time I sat on the front porch steps before my u-12 state championships
feeling exhausted, trying to find more energy (I wound up scoring the winning
goal!) and casually shooting hoops with Isaiah talking about life’s intricacies
(especially during his track seasons). I
recalled the feeling that I get every time I return home from college, East
Machias, or Boston and the feeling of comfort and relief that I get as I pull
into the driveway. The smell of lilacs from
the bushes that line the driveway in the spring time. The joy that I had after kissing Amy for the
first time (yeah, a goodnight kiss). The
feeling of the wet grass on my bare feet on those summer mornings when I would
drag my brothers out to play sports with me.
The clarity of mind that I felt when I stepped out of the garage to
shoot the basketball, juggle the soccer ball, or play tennis against the
kitchen wall (again, much to my parents’ chagrin). The summer day just beginning to heat up as I
started the lawn mower to get my daily chores out of the way. The list could go on and on and these are
memories that were made outside of the house.
It is amazing the memories that are made in a place during the formative
years.
This is such a cliché statement, but if the walls of the
Mathews Ave house could talk, they sure would have some stories to tell. They would tell of the way Dad would
rearrange the furniture every few months because he never felt fully satisfied
with the aesthetic, they would revel in the constantly sweet smell of Mom
baking in the kitchen, they would speak of the boys’ growth through their
successes and mistakes.
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| Helping Mom in the kitchen! |
As I flipped through the pictures of the different rooms, I
imagined them on other occasions filled with different friends and family,
celebrating events or just hanging out.
The photos of the kitchen evoked the strongest memories. As the first place to walk into, the kitchen
was always welcoming, usually smelled amazing, and constantly had too many
people (and dogs) cluttered in the space.
It was there that we would share celebrations through the years with
Mimi and Papa, who were always there to enjoy the delicious meals and eat “just
a sliver” of all of the desserts. Many
evenings I was asked if I needed “a written invitation” to get to the kitchen,
as I dragged my feet to get to dinner.
The kitchen was the site of our family game time, where our true
competitiveness showed its teeth; some of us stopping at nothing (even fighting
on rare occasions) to get the badly desired victory. Many of games of Scrabble were played in that
kitchen and slowly but surely, we finally began dethroning Dad as the champion
of triple word scores.
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| Christmas Eve Feast!! |
- Sophomore year of high school when I fell asleep on the couch in the basement watching college basketball every night
- Summers when Josh, Isaiah, and I lounged around the house watching Dawson’s Creek, Family Guy, and American Dad
- Making up games to play with Isaiah in the back yard
- Playing video games (especially FIFA, Tony Hawk, Halo, ESPN College Hoops 2k5, and Twisted Metal) with the boys and friends
- Wiffle Ball in the back yard
- Lobster bakes on the back porch
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| Steamers and Bruschetta on the Back Deck |
- Uphill world cup with Joe and Josh
- Jeopardy in the office with the family
- Late nights in the office talking on AIM and listening to music (i.e. the Fray) (Ohhh high school Noah…)
- Mom reading to us in our room as we went to sleep
- Our living room being watched over by statue Mary and Jesus
- Playing ping pong in the back of the basement
- Sitting in the living room with friends and family catching up on lost time
- When Isaiah ran down stairs and slipped on the freshly waxed wood floor
- Plotting with the cousins how we could ensure a sleep over at family events
- The raspberries!
- Many, many more things…
I am really happy that my parents are taking the opportunity
to make sure that the Homestead that my grandparents built themselves stays in
the family. I know that in the long run,
home is where the people that you love are, and I also love the Homestead. I just thought that the Mathews Ave house
deserved a few words of recognition for serving as an excellent place of
residence for the last 16 years! If
anyone is in the market for homes, you should check it out, it’s truly a fantastic
place to live! (Shameless plug)
Until next time!!
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