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)
artaddict2
Very touching story Kimmers, yet a beautiful picture!
Ionel
Superb light!
RobyHermida
Very beautiful image...splendid capture!!
lemonjim
I can see the magic! The trees are magnificent - they know the whole story, too. Hope they drop appropriate tree gunk on the course, just to make the greenskeepers snarl a little!
hewee
Should of had them also move the house across town to the new lot. You would still have grandma's house all fixed up but just not setting in the same place. Not right they can come in and take what is not theres.
micturn
What beautiful colours.
flora-crassella
super photo! Wonderful!!!!!!
cfulton
Sadly to say that life goes on is a bit trite. Yet we are only here at this very moment in time, the past is gone and the future undefined. Thank you for your capture on the now with a millisecond of digital time. Also now passed, as the sun has set. Clive
DennisReed
Gorgeous Image Kimmers, but indeed a sad story. Your positive nature shines through in this image, and I hope your Grandma feels the same. I only remember the friends I leave behind, but not the homes & property. That's my non-material nature! ;)
praep
Wonderful image, great colors and a touching story. Great work.
jubchuqun
I fully understand and am saddened by your story. Being raised with the focus mostly on my Native American ancestry, the idea of owning the land was a mostly strange and foreign concept to me most of my life. Until 1988 when I bought some land in Florida where I lived and built my house there. I thought I would live there for the res of my life. That was my intention. But things happened and I lost my home and most of my belongings. Now I look at the pictures, and remember my lost house and am so sad. Li
erlandpil
Wonderful light and color erland
sharky_
Very sad story.... Memories is all thats left. And they can't take that away. Aloha
Littlejock
The light and composition is great...and perfect the textures of land..
B_PEACOCK
It is really sad because you never really own the land no matter how much you paid or how long you have owned it.Pretty shot
delaorden_ojeda
what a beautiful scene ! wonderful light, superb composition. Nothing remains for ever , very touching story, excelent capture !
JeffersonAF
Wonderful scene.
JeffG7BRJ
It looks like some of Grandma's magic lives on in this spot Kim, I'm pretty sure she will swerve some of those shots around the 13th Hole. They can steal your house out from under you and make it hard for you if you refuse to sell, but they can't take your memories Kim. I say good on yer Mom, for holding out as much as she could and shame on the developers, they could have stuck with a nine hole course. Excellent capture and a heartfelt narrative. Bravo!!!!!
frankman
Fantastic light and colors!
aerodreams
Just perfect!
KarmaSong
I can sense the mood of your soul in the soft and nostalgic sunlight permeating the scene here. Excellent capture, and a truly moving narrative...
kenwas
An all to common tale these days KM. YOu seem to be handling it well. Is there any choice anyway? Beautiful shot.
OrphanedSoul
Sadness is my first response, we so often "tear down paradise to put in a parking lot" so to speak, great attitude and capture!
rainbows
You have such beautiful memories, dear Kimmers. A sad true story, I feel for your loss. Beautiful tree, they did not destroy that... Hugs. Di. xx
Svarg
They'd have to get past my guns, dammit! (beautiful shot, Kimmers.)
redheadgrrl
Absolutely stunning, Kimmers. I love this picture and the story behind it. You have such a gift at capturing things with you camera - and our attention with your words as well. Great job. Gun aka redheadgrrl
durleybeachbum
A bit sad, but like Danny says......
koosievantutte
a fine image - illustrates the mood very well. i still can go back to all places where i lived - when i think about it i never can tell if it is a good thing or not. it is very close, but never quite like the memories.
lucindawind
just a beautiful photo! love the lighting !!
RodolfoCiminelli
Wonderful and beautiful photo my friend, great lighting effects: I like the lighting......!!!!