Irwin Idaho. A place that pretty much no one has ever heard of. The place that my great grandparents lived, where my grandmother was born, and where my mom, and then I, spent our childhood summers. I went back there this month, after having been away for many years, my last brief vist 5 years ago. I went back with my mom and my sister. We took the next generation with us, 6 kids (and 1 puppy). We went back to visit grandma, to reminisce, to clean the old (and I mean old) house, and to try to share a bit of our childhood with our children.
The old house.
It brought back so many wonderful memories. School getting out, and the excitement of summer in front of us. Counting down the days until we would make the long drive. So excited when we had made it to Idaho Falls. The landmarks that we recognized that told us our destination was near: the old red barn just outside of Idaho Falls, the Snake River, the beautiful Conant Valley, over the bridge, Swan Valley, and then finally Irwin. I used to love to look for the sign that told us we were entering Irwin. I wanted to see if the population had changed at all. It always hovered right around 130. Mom would stay a day or two and then leave us kids with Grandma for the next 4-6 weeks. Wonderful weeks! We would sleep on Grandma's living room floor, and wake up to music on the old record player or some program on TV that was mostly static because there was no reception there. We'd spend our days playing outside. Climbing trees, running around the property, visiting with Uncle Wes or Aunt Myrle or walking to the corner store for a bag of penny candy.
Yep, that's Z and K up at the top of the same tree we'd climb. I never went that high, but my brothers did.
We'd feed Roger's horses and beg to ride them. Soon enough Grandma would help us. She'd bridle old Sunday or Silver and we'd ride bare back around the back pasture. How we loved to ride those old, patient, slow horses. We'd beg to swim at the lake and Grandma would load us up and drive us to Palisades where we would spend hours swimming and jumping off the dock.
Our kids and Jack after swimming at Palisades.
T jumping off the dock.
We'd beg to go to Trober's, home of the world famous square icecream cone. Really, it was only world famous to us. We couldn't wait to have one. We'd beg to walk to the river, about 1/2 a mile away. Then Grandma would have to come with us, and would threaten us the whole way there, that we must stay back for if we fell in the current would sweep us away. To this day I remember my fear of the Snake and its current that was sure to drown me if I got to close.
Every night we would walk Jack and the kids down to the river, warning them as we were warned to stay back and be careful.
S in some old tree root next to the river.
We loved going to the laundry mat. We loved the trip to Idaho Falls where we would get our months worth of groceries, and eat lunch 'in town'. We loved going to Grandma's old Church in the Valley. We loved sitting on the side lawn and playing card games. I learned so many things in Irwin: to bake bread, to ride a horse, to gather eggs from the chickens, to play Canasta, to drive. I remember tractor rides with Uncle Wes.
A different uncle, different kids, and a different tractor,
but same kind of smiles.
I remember the old cabin, the chicken coop, the pump house, the wood shed. I remember laughing at the old outhouse and the thought of actually using it.
Z thought the outhouse was pretty cool.
I remember hotdog roasts at Rainy Creek, cooking on a stove that actually used burning wood, watching the bats come out at dusk. I remember crying the night Silver got into rat poisoning and died. There are so many memories. How thankful I am to have had those wonderful summers, and how glad I am to have shared a bit of that with my own children. It was a wonderul time.
GOING BACK
That time of year again. The days are getting a little bit shorter. The mornings are getting a little bit cooler. There are crayons and backpacks on sale at every store. It's time to go back to school. Z is in 6th grade now. He's the oldest in the school, though to me it seems like just yesterday he was in Kindergarten. The time has just flown by. I plan to enjoy this year and not wish it away, because next year he'll be off to junior high. Thinking about it makes me feel old.
My happy middle child is now in 3rd grade. T is very excited about school. He thinks his teacher is great and he can't wait to learn times tables and cursive. He still seems so young and carefree, yet I can see that he wants some responsibility too. He's growing up, and that makes me feel old.
And now my baby is going to school. I am so excited for him to meet new friends and try new things. I know that he will have fun. I know that he will be safe and happy. I can't wait to watch him learn and grow. But, as I send him off to Kindergarten, I feel old. It is a new stage of my life, having all three boys in school, and no little ones at home. And so, I too am going to school. I am excited to learn and grow. I'm excited to meet knew friends and face new challenges. It's wonderful, and it makes me feel young, so I guess that balances everything out.
A FRIEND
This month I said goodbye to a wonderful friend. She taught me to have faith, to have courage and to have a positive attitude. I miss seeing her in her high-heel shoes. I miss hearing her smiling voice on the phone. I miss how everytime I talked to her I came away feeling happier and better. She gave me so much more than I ever gave to her and I am so thankful to have known her.
Here we are with the young women and other leaders at girls camp in 2008.
