When my husband, Chris was in middle school, his father Mit bought the farm. It was about 40 acres with an old house. The house was a four room farmhouse, built about 1900, with a fireplace in every room. A hallway running smack through the middle of the house. The bathroom, well, it was an outhouse sitting out back. It was located on a dirt back road in Henry County, Georgia. The house was a true farmhouse. The studs are not lumber as we know it today. They are skinned wood poles. The exterior of the house was covered with brick patterned tar-paper. But Mit and his family were proud of it. For several years the house stayed rented, but the farm was the place to go on weekends. .According to Chris, they would hunt, ride horses and camp out. In senior high, it was a favorite place for him and his friends to go. Several years later, Chris's mother, Evelyn passed away and Mit remarried Cathy. Going to the farm became a big part of their life together, and soon after decided to make the farm home. Of course some changes had to be made. Over the years, Mit and family would work on the old farmhouse. They made additions to both sides of the house and put a bathroom where the old hallway was. The attic was finished with a bedroom, bath and laundry room. A screen porch was added across the rear of the house, and cedar planking added as exterior veneer around the entire house. Fireplace mantles were removed from other old houses and placed in the farmhouse. There are now two bathrooms on the main floor. There is even the "Bradford Room" for those large special gatherings. The ceilings in the original part of the house still remain the same tongue and groove wood. Exactly when each change was made, I do not know, but I do know it is not the same house it was once. They built the pond themselves. In the process of building the pond, Mit's brother, Wayne was accidentally killed by a truck after it unload a tractor. Keep in mind that I didn't come into the picture until 2001. When I came to visit Chris in Georgia, this was the first place we came to. It was instant love at first sight. The farm is a place like no other. You forget that there are now other houses around. It is almost "magical" and in some ways - it really is. Since 2001, the farm has been where I have witnessed the history of the house come to life. Here are a few examples: Christmas - what an event! Christmas morning, the children, grandchildren and now great-grandchildren all come together. Mit and Cathy have a total of 7 children, 18 grandchildren and now 3 great grandchildren with a 4th on the way. The house is anything but quiet. We have brunch, then watch as the children glow from opening gifts. However, I think the real highlight of the day is afterwards, when the children are out playing or running across the pasture chasing a ball. There is a swing made out of a tire that hangs from a large limb, it seems to get a pretty good work out as well. Christmas night, the Bradford Farm once again comes to life. When Mit's father passed away, he promised to make sure that the entire family came together every Christmas. Since Mit is the youngest of seven children, the family is quite large. In 2006, he had to add an addition to the screened porch to handle the growing crowd. Family members come from far away for this one night a year. Depending on the health of family members and their family obligations, some years there are as many as 70 present and others as few as around 30.  Easter is another big day at the farm. The little legs running as fast as they can as they hunt Easter eggs. Mit and Cathy have a tradition of putting quarters in the eggs, well even the little great grandchildren leave the candy eggs alone in search of the "rattling" eggs. When you look at the facial expressions on Mit and Cathy's face, it's evident that having the family together is what it is all about.
Chris and I spend a lot of time at the farm with the kids. (Both of my parents have passed away, and so our holidays and family time isn't quite as hectic as everyone else's) Sometimes we will just show up over the weekend. It might be just time sitting on the swings out back having general conversation. Maybe we went down to let Markus fish for a few hours (he caught at least 75 bream two weekends ago), of course, we throw them all back. Or it might be so that the kids can ride the horses or take a walk to the creek. It may be just sit to back and enjoy the quiet that comes with the farm. During the fall, we all go and pick grapes off of the grape vines, talk about sweet! All I know is that the farm is "home" to Markus, and we just "visit" our real home. Knowing how the farm has touched my family's life in the last several years, I can only imagine what it means to those that have had the pleasure of experiencing it for so much longer. It is these memories that the children will always remember. It's these times they will explain to their children when they talk about Pawpaw and Memaw It's is also the family values instilled upon them by such events like at the farm, that they will turn their house into a home for their own families. This house isn't just a home, it is magical place. |
