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.
Meaningful Words:
This memory popped up on my personal facebook quite some time ago:
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 because the arrangement has 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 a 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 !
The words on the staircase still speak to me today. I need to remember to do all the things listed on the risers of the steps. A friend painted the steps for me when Dave and I moved into the farmhouse in the summer of 2001. I had found a picture of a similar staircase with these words painted on it in a Country Living magazine.
The Story Behind the Steps
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.
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.
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!
More in the Farmhouse Reflection Series:
WOW, love the staircase with that writing. Super special.
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