Remember “The Simple Life” with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie? Yeah, that’s how I lived for the past 25 glorious years. No, I didn’t have immediate access to cows needing to be milked at 5am as they were a good 15 miles outside of the city, nor did I need to buy shoes in order to travel on an airplane as I frequently told people when they’d ask what life was like in such a small town. Suckers. Come on. This was a booming metropolis with population: 85,000! We have count ’em THREE Wal-Marts! The simple life just meant time spent with close family and friends in a beautiful, quiet environment. I thought an afternoon at Central Mall meant a massive shopping spree. My modeling days at Glamour Shots never quite took off, and I guess it had something to do with my gap teeth and bowl cut. I figured a weekend “vacation” to Dallas meant that we’d made it. Cruising down the busiest street in the city known as Rogers Avenue on a Friday night was the life. What else did people even do besides hang out in Wal-Mart parking lots?
I spent the past Labor Day weekend with my parents packing up a multitude of boxes, really faded memories, and either throwing them away or placing them into “memorabilia” boxes. I mean, what on earth do you do with 67 Beanie Babies, American Girl dolls and ancient Hello Kitty telephones? Remember the Bop It game? Yeah, I found that in a corner, too. You divide and conquer until you have boxes and trash bags up to your eye balls. Somebody’s going to be hitting the jackpot at the Salvation Army soon with vintage Louis Vuitton purses and faded Chi Omega t-shirts circa 2007. You’re welcome.
What’s more than the Guitar Hero game missing most of its parts or the trashed pictures of ex-boyfriends are the walls and the land that make up this home. My childhood is jumping on the trampoline in the backyard. It’s almost flipping the dusty go-kart with my best friend. It’s sleeping in a king-sized bed in my giant blue room with my two sisters every Christmas Eve.
I spent hours doing homework at that kitchen table after school. I got drunk for the first time in that living room with my best friends. I went through relationships and friendships and heartbreaks and more laughter than I could have ever hoped for, and now it’s somebody else’s turn to make the most of life inside these beautiful walls. It’s easy when you have the family that I do. The best of luck to y’all.
I wanted to document this house and this move so that it lives on not only in my memories, but in a place where I can frequently go and look back on happy times. Traveling from place to place can be taxing and no longer having a “home base” is heartbreaking. But to say I lived the dream in a place like this for 25 years is an understatement. It’s enough to make my cheeks hurt and my abs sore after looking back on all the amazing memories. People grow up, people move and life goes on. Home is where your family is, and that will always remain a constant. Cheers to the simple life. I’ll never forget you Free Ferry Road.
WOW! We will all miss the house so much! But know for sure, that our next house will be a blank space to start making family memories all over again. I Love you Lesley and I Love our home. Something tells me that this house just might miss us as much we are going to miss living inside these familiar, warm walls!
4620 will always miss us! Thanks for making our house an amazing home! Love you tons.
Wow! I didn’t know this was your home. I’ve always thought it is the most beautiful of all the Free Ferry homes… which is saying a lot. I just discovered your blog and I want to say it looks like you are living an amazing life. Your adventures look awesome, especially in the amazing photographs you are capturing them in. We didn’t ever know each other well in high school, but I always found you to be a genuinely positive person to be around – in the one Spanish class we had together. Wishing you many blessings to come.
Brett – Thanks so much for your sweet message! I always thought it was the star of Free Ferry too, but I’m definitely biased. I’m so glad to hear you like the blog, and thanks for making my day with your kind words. And thank God for that Spanish class…it’s coming in handy now 🙂 I miss those days. Hope you are doing well!
This is one of the best blog posts I have ever read. I felt like I was moving out with you. It almost made me emotional thinking about my own home and the memories I’ve made. (Have you ever heard the song "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert?) Anyways, what a beautiful home. It’s even better than all the dream homes showcased on HGTV. I’m so jealous. This house will be in my imagination when I think of my future home. I would be extremely happy if I had the opportunity to live in a house even just similar to yours. I bet it was super hard to move out. If I may ask, what made your family make the decision to move. Probably all you kids leaving home and no longer needed the space. Am I right?
Awwwww! Loved reading your blog! I grew up in Ft. Smith too, and you described many places and rituals that sound extremely familiar. Central Mall was where I met my hubby when he, a pilot from NC, pretended he was interested in buying a watch from the store where I worked. And I can’t believe that they are still cruising in 2006; what fun we girls had when several of us squeezed in one car because the more the merrier! Continue to be good to Ft. Smith. I try to come back several times a year to visit my mom and siblings.
Aw so happy to read this! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I too have admired the house you grew up in and the drive down the fanciest street in Fort Smith. I’m guessing maybe that first drunk experience was with my daughter Kellie. I’m sure you probably had a few more of those experiences with the “Quad”. I will have to ask here about that! Good luck on all your adventures to come with your family and can’t wait to see where you will go next.