Where my Grandmother's house once was ... by kimariehere
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Description
Hello all!!
Ok there is a story behind this one that runs deep in our family... this is where my Grandmother's house once was (up till last year)... It is now the beginning of a Jack Nicholson golf coarse . All the memory's still float around and linger here. When I went back to Michigan My Mom and I ,we still drive here many times just cause it is still such a special place when we drive past.
My Grandparents bought this beautiful hilltop home in the 50's . I went there as a child in the summers it was a place of magic to me and I still sometimes remember the smells and feelings there .It was one of the only hilltop homes in Benton Harbor Mi and near the beach.
After Grandmother and Dad died My Mom went back to the family home and felt comforted by it with its many memory's and ghosts of the past- if walls could talk! . She restored it and put
80 thousand into the restoration. When the home was perfect and finished with its grand view of the paw paw river leading to the big lake ( can't see the river view in this pic on the other side ), Harbor shores developers/ Jack Nicholson reps tell my Mom she has no choice but to sell them her home & property!!! (http://www.harborshoresdevelopment.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=16)
She tells them at first they can't have it that it's her family home and that she just restored it.
They say to her well its "hole 13" in the plans and even if she did somehow keep it there they would have to put a big net over her front yard and change the driveway from the back hill up. She cried. Here she just lost her Mom her brother, my Dad and this home and land was why she moved to Michigan & away from California for.
Anyways so my Mom got a lawyer and got a good settlement and bought a new beautiful home .She moved a lot of the landscaping to her new house across town some trees didn't make it. Sad story her river view is no longer and Grandma's beautiful home torn down where all the family dogs were buried. She took me to the land a few weeks ago after dinner . The land is 20 feet higher with fillers and waterways.. I hardly recognized that is was where Grandma's house was ! So I took this shot of it as the sun slowly sank with my memory's .
Its amazing you can own land 100% -...no guarantees out there you get to keep it though - they can still buy it out/ take it from you...
I am an optimist though - always have been so i try to look at the glass half full and don't mean to sound down about this at all ...just an adjustment. When I was walking around here I tried to remind myself that the good news is that the town of Benton harbor & area is being restored /beautified by this project. I am glad that it will be a beautiful place that people enjoy. I realize its sometimes a little hard to say goodbye to some places dear to the heart. Have you ever had to say goodbye to a property you have loved? It's a matter of the heart.
post work - ( just slight saturation
& curves, framed, and reduced )
-just thought I would share our story today.
Thanks for all your wonderful time and comments !!
Love to all
((( Big Hugs )))
~Kimmers ! ♥ :O)
Comments (114)
claude19
GREAT story...! A great damage that your GrandMother's House was destroyed to create a golf for a rich actor !!! sorry for your remembrances ! GREAT shot with a very fine definition !
romanceworks
This is a beautiful picture but a very sad story about your grandma's home. I can imagine how painful to see it disappear and no amount of money can really make up for this loss. It reminds me of what happened to a home I grew up in - I went to look at it one day, many years after we had moved and I was grown up, and not only was the house gone, but the entire block, which had now become part of Los Angeles International Airport. They really had paved paradise and put up a parking lot. CC
dariobeniher27
clear and paceful, love it!
bpclarke
Sad story and wonderful picture. The good news is you have the good memories and each other to share it with. Beautiful shot. Bunny
danob
A sad story Kimmers at least the land will look beautiful and maybe somewhat better than great swaths of high rise concrete!
Fred255
Just perfect!
geoegress
good eye :)
lior
A sad and touching story Kimmers :( Excellent control of the light,wonderful colors and a stunning landscape and without PostWork!!! Thank you for sharing, Hugs Lior
brycek
Wonderful capture, but sad story Kim..thanks for sharing!!
annie5
A sad story but a great scene Kim! The lighting is superb :)
goodoleboy
A lovely photo accompanied by a story so poignant that it leaves me in a dour mood, Kims.
Optiramma
The capture and story are pure gold!!!
bobbystahr
Will my dear you still have the memories and sometimes I've found that's nearly enough. At 60 I've had to view the 'paving over' of a good many childhood memories and the only home that I've lived in[familial or personl] that remains standin is the one Mom lived in till she pased away 5 years ago, and I still stubbornyly refuse to move out of. Jebus, even the church Mom, Sis,Dad and I went to is now an 'at risk' youth center and covered in grafitti....sigh.. ...
flaviok
Deve ser doloroso ter que sair de um paraiso como este. Fantástica minha amiga, aplausos (5) It should be painful to have to leave a paradise as this. Fantastic my friend, applause (5)
CavalierLady
A very sad and touching story, Kim... yes, it is very hard to think of leaving what has been home for so many years... but the good Lord doesn't place more on us than we can bear.... a lovely image... and you'll always have the memories of grandma's house and those will always be dear to your heart. My best to your family!
gunsan
So typical to crash peoples life and dreams. Such things happen here in Sweden too. Thanks for sharing this story. Seems to be a very beautiful place, and your photo is just gorgeous!
MrsLubner
touching story. I have nothing against golf or courses, and I have nothing against development of all types, but I stand strongest and truest arm in arm with family and family roots. Seems she got as much from both ends as she could get. I love the sun shining down on this drive. the 13th hole should have a small marker somewhere with her name on it.
bkhook
How sad for you and your family. They can take my home and land only after they pry my 45MM out of my cold dead hands.
cmcc
caughtr the sun just right. wonderful shot.
MrsRatbag
It's sad that they can do that; sometime I'll tell you about what happened to my parents and why they are now living with me.... at any rate, a golf course is better than a shopping mall, and the dogs will have a beautiful lawn for their spirits to run on! And good for her in getting a good settlement. Still doesn't seem fair, though.
jonbg1
Sorry to hear this but in the loss you have created some beauty, maybe if you squint your eyes you will still see the house there. And may all the golfers have terrible shots on the 13th hole. lol
tizjezzme
Thank you for sharing your story Kimmie, its very sad, but like you say, its an adjustment and it is now a place where people can relax and enjoy. LOL@jonbq1 "And may all the golfers have terrible shots on the 13th hole. lol" ya gotta love it!
magnus073
Very sad and the harsh reality is the government can step in at any time and take what you think is yours as can people with enough power. So sorry for your Mom and I do hope she stuck it to them.
1010
Nothing seems to stay the same Kimmers, I bet it brought tears to your eyes. A beautiful spot.
Meowgli
touching story but I'm glad you can see the positives, and that a good settlement was reached =)
npauling
That is really sad and after all the renovations. Thank you for sharing your story and in this life it is sad that things don't stay the same but as you say you have to think positively and at least people can enjoy this space still and these beautiful trees.
evielouise
great story and another great photo I tell you !all of them are fantastic! this is a place to go for a walk and forgot all your troubles ::
amota99517
Your shot is wonderful and truly speaks to the heart. The good news is that the memories will always be yours and your mother's. That can never go away.
LudyMelltSekher
My dear friend, Precious photography, Impressive!!Congratulations !! A million stars*****Happy day. Hug in Your heart.Luminous Blessings. Ludy
anahata.c
I did service for awhile and helped people who'd been uprooted for reasons as diverse as buyouts to storms to war, and all felt the same: a deep loss, a sense of one's roots being torn to pieces, and—even when they could build elsewhere—the realization that they'd never lose their memory of those roots. I'm very sorry for your family's loss, especially for something as impersonal as a golf course; and to me, the picture captures something beautiful in the land even through its defacement, as if you photographed an aura, something left behind. As if you captured what was inside it. No commercial settlement can erase that. The silhouette of the bushes & tree is simple & beautiful; the sun is caught perfectly, a blinding gold late afternoon sun, setting on your memory, illuminating it; and the curving path in your hands is a gentle opening-of-the-landscape, where perhaps you found poetry in something that seemed so wholly crass. You even captured the tree-boughs leaning over to caress the bushes, as if to say the love of that area still goes on no matter what. So while it's a picture of something lost, you still managed to capture what was once there. It's sad, but it's shimmering & gorgeous. The old property came out for you that evening, and it shined...