Team Jaimee

My cousin Jaimee (jeez, thank god she is in my life so I have blog entries) is currently going through a family upheaval. I've said before that she is Super Woman with her 14 children, her job of saving people's lives, and her day to day activities which include a side job as an FBI informant, but lately she has been pushed to the point of someone-is-going-to-get-hurt-if-she-doesn't-get-some-relief.

A year ago her husband took another job in a city an hour from where they lived, and because their house wasn't selling he commuted an hour each way for a year while the kids finished this school year. And before you think, "Oh, that poor man" please remember all he had to do was sit on his ass in a car and drive, sometimes through traffic. She, on the other hand, had the responsibility of her 14 children and all that entails before and after her own job. I'm on Team Jamiee there.

The house has sold now and because they don't have a new house in the new city they are going to move into my Aunt Lorene's house temporarily. Let me, for those who don't know Lorene stories, give some background to that statement. My Aunt Lorene's house, as I've been told, was purchased from the coal mining company, one of the many homes abandoned as families sold their land to the coal companies. A basement was dug on land owned by my grandfather and the house was set down on top of that for Lorene and her husband. I don't know the year this occurred, but my aunt came back to Indiana to care for her mother in the late 60's or early 70's when she got sick. I don't remember a time that Lorene didn't have that house, and I was quite surprised to find she lived in Michigan until moving home.

As a child, coming to visit my grandfather at his farm Lorene's house was like a palace compared to the farm house. I grew up in the suburbs in a 3700 square foot home with modern conveniences, and while that made others think I was privileged I was born into that life, and going from that to the farm was a big shock to my system. I was used to having indoor plumbing, thank you very much and Lorene's house had that.

That being said, while a few changes have happened to the house over the years there haven't been that many in the last twenty to thirty years, and she had a habit of allowing everyone and their brother to dump their belongings in her house where she stacked them up in the basement or in the front bedroom or in the barn or in her yard. It wasn't anything like a hoarder, and I considered it a historical treasure trove, but for those who didn't grow up with the house I'm sure it's an eye opener.

Farm life is very different from the suburbs and two of my favorite posts about Lorene and her life are HERE and HERE. This will give you an idea of why when Jaimee gave me the news that her husband was insisting on saving rent by moving into Lorene's house my own family, while shocked to the core at even the very thought, resorted to humor.

Madison: "Well, let Jaimee know that there is plenty of food in the basement."

Once while visiting my Aunt Lorene, she was bemoaning the fact that her sons wouldn't let her go down into her basement and she wasn't sure what canned goods she had down there. I offered to go down to take pictures on my phone so that she could look at those and then I could get an item if she saw what she wanted. She asked me to look into the freezer as well. I, of course, wondered as I snapped the above photos how long the food had sat on the shelves and in the freezer. Her comment upon seeing the pictures?

Lorene: "I have a pizza down there? I didn't know that. We could have that for dinner tonight if you want."

Madison also wanted to remind Jaimee that expired food at Lorene's house is okay. As is the canister of flour where Lorene use to just toss the pieces of chicken inside to coat them before frying. Madison, who assisted Lorene in the kitchen that day, claims she still has nightmares from the incident, but also loves having the memory. Jaimee, on the other hand, doesn't find any of these stories humorous in the least.

Her husband, my cousin, on the other hand, grew up with all of this. Lorene was his grandmother and so this was his norm. He grew up with this house, spent considerable time in it, and he has great memories. He doesn't understand what the problem is or why Jaimee is upset by all of this. He thinks she is spoiled because she wants new "things". I take this to mean she wants walls that aren't paneled, carpeting that isn't older than her, and a kitchen where the canisters of flour haven't had raw chicken pieces dumped into them. The fact that the house has been closed up for the past three years doesn't seem to phase him, but it does her. I'm on Team Jaimee with that one too.

Other factors in moving into this house beside the few I've mentioned also include no cell service and no wifi. While I'm sure her husband would roll his eyes at that comment, and while I agree that I don't miss any of that when I visit the area, it does seem a necessity for emergencies while the parents are at work. Times are different than when we were younger, a fact that people always seem to forget. It isn't our fault we have come to expect nice "things". The world changed and you either jump on the bandwagon and move forward with progress, or you live in the past. Even Lorene moved forward from her days of living on the farm up the road..

I feel for my cousin. Uprooting and moving your family to another city is hard enough. Not having a place to live in the new city with the start of school looming would have me spinning in circles. Temporarily sucking it all up and moving into Lorene's house? The woman is a saint. She'll do it, and she'll survive, and hopefully, she will blog all about it with humor. If she can find it. I told her to start in Lorene's basement.