Ma & Pa's place

I have so many memories at my Nanny's house. We spent a lot of time there in San Fernando Valley, right around the corner from the Budweiser plant that I still get teary-eyed driving by. It was a beautiful little house that my Grandad customized, tucked away in the ghetto where mariachi music blared 24/7 and LAPD helicopters circled nightly. When I was young it was just my grandparent's house. I didn't pay much attention to how run down the neighborhood was becoming. I do, however, recall my Grandad using his camcorder to record neighborhood drug dealers. Other than that, it was everything a grandparent's house should be. It was the safest and most comfortable place on Earth to me.

When my Nanny passed away, my Grandad immediately sold the house and my sister and I never had the chance for that final walk through. Never had the chance to collect those things my Nanny wanted us to have when she died. But they were just things so we never complained.

My heart goes out to the people who bought the house, because they have had more than one looky-loo in our family visit the house, standing outside hoping to rekindle a memory or recapture that feeling we used to have when we were there. I've never had the nerve to ask if I could come in, and I'm sure the family who lives there wouldn't want some weird white chick walking around their house, bawling. Whenever I drive by the freeway off ramp with the kids in the car, I make sure to point out that their great grandparents used to live there. Maybe one day I'll take them to be looky-loos too.

Just like my grandparent's house, Wes' grandparents have lived in the same house for 50 years. I can't imagine living in one place for 50 years. I'm the girl that's lived in 14 different houses in my short 33 years of life. But now Ma and Pa are downsizing and moving in with Wes' parents, which the grandkids are pretty excited about since they'll see them more often.

So we were asked to walk around their house and let Ma and Pa know what we'd like to inherit when they move out. For some reason, a lot of us gravitated to Ma's hats. And as you can see, we obviously rock them.

 I can't imagine how many memories Wes' family has of Ma and Pa's house. I'm sure it's just as important a land mark as my grandparent's house was to me. I feel for them when I think of what a big change they're making. I just hope the great-grandkids never forget how much fun they've had there running around with their cousins. And just in case their memories are fuzzy one day, I've been sure to take a ton of pictures.