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This past week, out of the blue one of those memories came flooding back into my mind and it was quickly added on a "must have" list I am making as we are in the process of looking for a new or at least new to us house to purchase this year......let me just say it is a daunting task...house hunting that is.
It occurred to me this week, that my kids have never known the sound of the spring stretching on an old screen door as it opens, and then the quick slamming sound as it pops back against the door frame.
My grandmother had an old screen door on her porch that lead to her back yard. Many a Sunday afternoons were spent when I was a young girl of me running out that old screen door. Then as I would turn loose of the wood frame, and as the door slammed shut, I remember my mom and aunt always in unison yelling..."don't slam the door" and before they could get the words out...the door popped shut and off the porch I would go. Honestly, I did not really slam the door, the door just sorta slammed itself.
There isn't anything at all romantic about an old screen door, but the memories they evoke are the romantic fibers of my heart. I can remember as if it was yesterday, the smell of Sunday chicken frying from my grandma's kitchen. My mom and aunt would be working right alongside my grandma and the meals they turned out of that kitchen are the memories that can make your mouth water.
I always loved her screen door, I loved the smooth feel of the plain iron handle, nothing fancy, just functional, but it had a certain feel in my young girls hand. I loved the safety lock which was nothing more than a simple eye hook and hook. I liked locking and unlocking that door as I stood looking out into the back yard. I also loved locking my sister (clearly by accident) out of the kitchen. I loved the chippy paint and I loved how my grandma had little square patches for repairs in the screen of the door.
I wish my kids had been able to experience the simplicity of old screen doors. We always had storm doors on the front of our home. My kitchen door was not to where I could put up a screen door as the pitch of the roof outside the back door would not allow for one. Thus I gave up that dream of having a screen door long ago. It occurred to me, kids today for the most part, never will know the sounds, feels and fascination like I always had with my grandma's screen door.
My must have list for my new house has included a door in the kitchen to the outside, and one that will allow for an old fashion screen door. I don't want a new one, I want an old one. I want one that evokes all the nostalgia and memories I carry in my heart of days gone by. I want to recreate all the warm and fond memories that came from inside that screen door on Sunday afternoons in the summertime.
I wonder....is it really the screen door itself that holds my fascination and longings? Or is it the memories that are intertwined with the memory of a certain screen door my heart is longing for?
It is a rather simple item to be added to a list of "must haves" in searching for a new house, but one that I don't see myself crossing off the list as not attainable.
Oh, and about that list......there are really two list....one that I talk about with my husband......and then one that is written in my heart. The second list is the one I am afraid I stay a little more focused on most of the time. The old screen door is item number three on the list.......stay tuned.
