This is Home, Part 39 - Upstairs

This is part 39 of my mother's book about her life, written in 2004.



Upstairs

I loved the upstairs of the house. It had double windows on the side like the kitchen and double dormer windows with a wonderful view out front.

It had three old trunks up there. I have one that is a captain's trunk. They were filled with clothes belonging to Grandma Rice and Aunt Joann. There was a beautiful evening cape that I think was Grandma Rice's. She had a lot of nice clothes. Mom said the black ones were for wearing out and the gray ones were for wearing at home. There were black shoes in there. Very narrow ones with high heels. They fastened up about halfway to the knee, probably. They fastened with hooks that the shoe strings went around.

We also found handkerchiefs and fans. Very delicate fans -- some of them with painting on them.

We also found old pictures of the Rice family and some letters.

One other thing I really loved upstairs were the two grandfather clocks. Especially the larger one. I used to open the door and get inside when I was small. I also used to make them chime.

When fall came, Uncle Doc always put a lot of newspapers on the floor by the chimney and put pears on them. He really liked pears, but I didn't. They were not smooth like peaches or apricots.

Another thing I loved upstairs was the rain on the roof and the wind whistling around the eaves. The wind sounded almost like it had voices in it sometimes.