From Farmhouse to Florida

A Life Styled with Heart

Farmhouse Reflections

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A gentle reflection on the farmhouse years that shaped me — the falls, the lessons, and the quiet courage of getting back up. A story of home, resilience, and becoming

The places that shaped me, the falls that taught me, and the quiet courage of getting back up

There are seasons when you look back, not to relive the past, but to understand the thread that’s been quietly stitching your life together. For me, that thread has always been home — the places that steadied me, the people who held me, and the moments that taught me how to rise.

The farmhouse years were my first classroom in noticing. Noticing the way morning light softened even the hardest days. Noticing how a chipped windowsill could still feel like belonging. Noticing how a life can be both humble and full.

And then there were the steps.

Today, I am reflecting on the memories I have of falling or almost falling down the steps of the farmhouse help remind me of the many times I have fallen and then been able to get back up and brush myself off and start again.

staircase in old farmhouse

Those old farmhouse steps that I fell down more times than I care to admit — sometimes literally, sometimes in the way life knocks you flat when you least expect it. I used to think those falls were failures. Now I see them as the places where I learned my real strength.

Because every single time, I got back up. A little bruised, a little wiser, but still moving.

That’s the part of the farmhouse I carry with me the most — not the walls or the view or the season of life, but the quiet courage it taught me. The kind that doesn’t shout. The kind that whispers, “You can stand again.”

Memories-

This memory popped up on my personal Facebook page last fall  -Sept 25, 2011
 
I was really into the decorating groove until I almost fell down our upstairs steps.  Forgetting that I had just moved a tote next to the top of the stairs, I tripped over it while carrying a fall arrangement in a cast iron pot. Luckily, I didn’t poke my eye out! The arrangement had rusty stars sticking out of it.  Of course, I dropped the arrangement which made a big thud… Dave comes running and asks “is the dog ok?
 
Obviously, Dave was a bit more worried about Gracie than he was about me!
 
Fortunately, neither Gracie or I fell down the steps that day.  I have fallen down those steps several times as a child and I have tripped over the bottom step as well.  You can’t see the bottom step in the picture above but it is cut off at an angle.  The times that I tripped over the step, I usually had my arms full of something and I was hurrying from one room to the next.

Another Memory involving the farmhouse steps:

One vivid memory I have of falling down those steps was on my 11th Birthday.  I had been playing upstairs in my toy room with one of my friends when I remembered it was my teddy bear’s birthday too!  My friend’s parents had given me the large white teddy bear the previous year for my birthday.  I named the bear Valerie.  I grabbed Valerie and holding her with both arms, went racing to the top of the steps, started down the steps yelling “it’s Valerie’s birthday too!”.  Next thing I know, I am at the bottom of the steps in a crumpled heap still holding onto Valerie!  Nothing was broken and Valerie didn’t suffer any rips or tears.  I should have held onto the handrail, I guess!
large teddy bear perched on a wooden staircase
 

Keep Getting up

 
The stories about falling or almost falling down the steps help remind me of the many times I have fallen and been able to get back up and brush myself off and start again.   As an entrepreneur, there were many times I fell and had to shake myself off and get back up.  I learned something each time that happened.  It also happened in my personal life as I am sure it has in many of yours.  The important thing is to get back up and keep trying!
 
The move to Florida brought its own chapter — softer light, slower mornings, breezes that feel like an exhale. Here, I learned that you can honor where you came from while opening your heart to something new. You can fall, rise, and still become someone softer, steadier, more rooted.

Reflection, I’ve learned, is really just a conversation between who you were and who you’re becoming. And I’m grateful for every version of me — the girl who tumbled down the steps, the woman who kept getting back up, and the Kimberly who stands here now, gathering stories under the Florida sky with a steadier heart.

Because no matter where I live, I’ll always believe this: Home isn’t the place that never lets you fall. It’s the place that teaches you how to rise.

old wicker chairs and coffee table accented with old books and a pot of blue flowers

 

More in the Farmhouse Reflection Series:

 
Farmhouse Circa 1893
Kim's Kottage logo

The Story Behind the Steps

 
The front of the farmhouse
 
My paternal grandfather purchased the farmland that included this house in 1942.  At that time, the staircase pictured above was actually accessed from the front door.  I am told that you could open the front door and go straight up the steps to the second floor.  For some reason, Grandpa Jones thought the stairway and the upstairs landing needed to be changed.
 
So, he gathered together 6 men and had them take the staircase out the front door, carry it around to the west side of the house and then place it so that the stairs were now accessible from what was then the kitchen.  The picture below was taken after the entryway and bathroom addition in 1993.  The steps in 1942 were a lot wider.
 
The west entrance of the farmhouse
 
When the steps were moved, it meant this doorway in the dining room would need to be blocked off.  My Grandpa turned the doorway into a display shelf.
built in shelf in old farmhouse
 

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Comments

  1. Esmé Slabbert says

    WOW, love the staircase with that writing. Super special.
    Visited you via Fabulous Friday Link Party 4.21.23
    If not already part of SSPS, this is a personal invite to hop over and come and share your posts with us at Senior Salon Pit Stop.
    See my entries: 57+58 and navigate to the bottom of my page for the Senior Salon Pit Stop linkup, we hope to virtually meet you there.

    Reply

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