When my father was about my age, my grandparents bought a vacation home in Red Lodge Montana. This is a small town on the southern boarder of the state, with a population of about two thousand people, but its a popular vacation area for skiing and hiking or so I am told.
My father has seven brothers and sisters and all of them have lived at the vacation home, full-time, at one point or another. My Grandma Dottie sewed the curtains from old bedsheets. My Grandpa Picey stocked the cupboards with thousands of cocktails napkins, which he received from his work in the liquor business. My father built a crappy shelve, with his best friend Jeff, out of bricks and wood. My father and his siblings got jobs in the small town, working at bars and restaurants, just living a carefree life in their twenties.
My Aunt Bridget actually met her future husband while living in Red Lodge one summer. His name is Steve and he worked in the oil fields. They now have three boys who all tower over me.
My father got his first dog, Otto, while living in Montana. Otto was a German short hair, which lived to be 14, saw my Dad get married twice and pasted away when I was six. He was a good ole' dog, which everyone still talks about.
My Aunt Bridget and some of her girl friends, decided to go back to the small mountain town for a girl's weekend, in the spring of 2009. Alot of my aunts and uncles friends had also lived at the house for a summer or two as well. On their vacation, they happened to meet a woman, who was also a real estate broker. They spoke of their time living in Red Lodge and mentioned the address of the old home. The broker pulled out a listing from her briefcase, which happened to be the same house my grandparents owned.
The realtor let the women back into the house where they had spent so much time during the 1970s. I forgot to mention that when my grandparents sold the house, almost 30 years ago, they sold it with all of the furinshings inside as well.
When the ladies opened the front door, it was like going back in time. Apparently the home was being sold by the same man who had bought it from my grandparents, which meant that all the same furnishings were in the house. In fact, the furiniture had hardley even been moved at all.
Dotties curtains were still hanging on the windows and thousands of Picey's cocktail napkins were still in the cupboard. While looking threw the house, they also came across a life jacket hanging in the closet, with my grandfather's name on it. My grandfather was deathly afraid of water, among other things and always kept one close by, in case of the second flooding from God or whatever.
My father's three sisters Bridget, Nora and Mary couldn't pass this up and purchased the home.
I have never been to Red Lodge, but I hope when I visit soon that this same house will hold the same magic it had for the rest of my family. I mean, I am in my twenties too...
