Thanks for the Lemonade

The world is tilting in our favor
Life gave me lemonade and I can't imagine why
Born on a sunny day beneath a tangerine sky
I live life without pretending
I'm a sucker for happy endings
Thanks for the Lemonade!

I love this song! It makes my heart happy. Much like the photo below.

May 2012 - Comerford Farm

Almost a year ago the Comerford's came to our adorable little intown rental and asked us if we would be interested in moving in with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa was not doing well at all and Grandma couldn't be and didn't want to be on her own. I was newly pregnant with Annie. Ben was had been without a job for a little over 2 months and we had no idea where we would end up long term. He had leads but nothing firm. We thought and prayed over the situation, pros and cons and decided to give up our rental house make the move to the farm. We really didn't have a reason not to and Grandma needed us here. One day before our move Ben was offered a job here in LaGrange (which he still loves by the way) that required a lot of travel time. Even more reason to move in, I could help Grandma with Grandpa and she could help me with the babies. On paper this all sounded like a good deal, but it went downhill pretty quickly.

I started getting really sick with the first trimester of pregnancy. I had a busy almost 2 year old, it was hot as hell outside and Ben was traveling all over the place for 3 or 4 days at a time. My personal situation alone was a lot to take on. Then you add in that we were in the middle of merging two families and I'm now living in another woman's home. No matter what you men think, you live in our homes. We allow you to make a presence here :) I had a friend tell me one time that in their pre-marriage counseling the pastor told them that a home is divided, walls out falls under the husband's responsibility and walls in is all the wife. We take pride in decorating and presenting our home to our family and friends. We have been playing house since we were toddlers and this is our dream come true. All this to say, it is really REALLY hard to have two grown women living in and taking ownership of the same house. Even more so when one is 84 and the other is 33. Regardless of age and gender, when 2 families are living under one roof, it's just hard for everyone to really be themselves. I am not going to dwell on the negative because that is not what this is about. You can all imagine that moving your pregnant self and toddler in with your spouse's Grandparents would have its set of struggles. And I don't mean just for our side. How many 80 something year olds do you know that elect to have children in their 80s? They don't! Toddlers make a lot of noise and are busy and quite annoying a lot of the time. By the time you reach your 80s you have earned the right to live in peace for as long as you'd like.

We have learned a lot living here. It's such a gift to live under a roof with people who have been married 63 years. It's great seeing them pick on each other and tell silly stories but it's also great to see them quarrel. No marriage is perfect but if you are committed to the cause you push through. It has also been a blessing for my children to have irreplaceable time with their Great Grandparents. We've eaten dinner together most nights. Amelia has put on shows for us on the front porch while we rocked and swung (by the way, I googled this. I originally had "swang" because that is what I say, but apparently "swung" is the correct term. Yuck!".) We brought Annie home from the hospital to this house.

One of the things offered to us when we moved in was that we could stay here for the long run and have this house when Grandma and Grandpa were no longer here. A generous offer, but one I was not at all interested in. I grew up in the country and thought it was pretty darn boring a lot of the time. I always said when I had kids they would be in town and close to their friends. And I LOVE living in town. I love strolling to the park and friend's houses and to shops and walking to and from restaurants. But something happened at some point living here and I'm not even sure when it happened. I fell in love with this place. I love waking up and seeing a beautiful pasture outside my window. I love that my children can play in the yard somewhat unsupervised and they won't run in the road or be carried off by some stranger. I love seeing the joy on Amelia's face as she runs all over this place. I love picking blueberries and grapes out of the yard. And I now have an all terrain stroller to navigate the gravel roads. It's like it's our own little corner of the world.

Thankfully, Grandpa is still with us and is doing good. I would have never imagined that a year later Grandpa would be doing well, going to church and the grocery store and kicking us out of the house! Grandma and Grandpa are good and do not need full time care. And as it turns out they would like their life back to normal. I mean I can not imagine why they would not want a teething 5 month old and a 3 year old living with them?! Perhaps they are tired of the racket? You think? haha So we had 2 options, we could find a house to purchase and move out or we could rent a house until we can move back in here. I honestly think looking at houses all over in town made me realize how at home I felt out here in the county. Or maybe it is the children? I honestly still love it in town, but my babies are happy here and that makes me happy. Regardless, I am really, really happy here.

Since we have decided to stay at the farm long term, we decided to be renters aka squatters again. We have some super-sweet friends that have a precious rental house in a fantastic area in town. It will be a great home away from home for as long as we need to be there. I hope Grandma and Grandpa are able to enjoy many, many, many more child-free peaceful days in this wonderful house.

There have been many times in my life when Jesus turned Lemons into Lemonade. This living experience was one of them. I had struggles, lots of them. But I had blessings, LOTS of them. I have found peace and comfort on a beautiful piece of land. I've seen a 2 year old and a baby bring joy to the eyes of 80 year olds. Saturday morning we move into our rental. I am so excited I just about can't stand it. I feel like a teenager about to move out for the first time. I'm excited to have my marriage back to normal and have our little family unit back. But at the same time I am a little sad. I will miss our little piece of land. And with all the stress and headaches that came with the living situation, I will miss our roommates. Amelia and Grandma adore each other and Grandpa thinks Annie is the cutest thing on earth. Before we moved in Amelia and I used to come out here once or twice a week for lunch dates. I guess we'll have to reinstate the program.

I've got it made
Rest in the shade
And hold my love
While God above
Stirs with a spoon
We share the moon
Smile at the bees
More sugar please
He really loves us after all
We're gonna need another straw!
We're gonna need another straw!

Life gave me lemonade and I can't imagine why
Born on a sunny day beneath a tangerine sky
I live life without pretending
I'm a sucker for happy endings
Thanks for the Lemonade!

~Chris Rice - Lemonade