The Birdhouse

My grandmother lives pretty much by herself in the Ciccone family's large homestead in McKees Rocks, PA. Grandma has come to be known as Grandma-Bird, and the house affectionately dubbed The Birdhouse. She is in her 70s now and even though she is probably healthier that all of us and will out-live us all, it's still a tremendous amount of house for one woman in her 70s.
The Birdhouse is old, I think the original parts of the house date back to somewhere around the turn of the century. The rest of the house kind of rose up around it, built mostly by my mom's grandfather, father, and uncles. Grandma and my aunts and uncles have spent the last 20 years finishing projects and such. The time has come for my grandmother to sell the house. We all knew the day would come, I just didn't know that I would be so very sad.

This house was always kind of a magical place for me and my sisters when we were little. We were only able to make the trip up there every 2-3 years. It's an 18-hour drive, and plane tickets for 5 people gets pretty pricey. But when we did make it up there, we were excited for weeks before we left. We don't get to see our Yankee kinfolk much, and we always have so much fun while we are all together.

My grandmother's house is, like many old houses are, very unique. There's lots of places to explore and hide in. I remember hours and hours of playtime, seeing what 'treasures' we could discover in the attic and the basement. We found all kinds of fun things- old board games, Barbie dolls from when my mom & aunt were girls, old prom dresses and clothes for dress-up. We used to have races on the stairs to see who could bump down on their butt first to the bottom. The house backs up to a large wooded area, and lots of animals like to come up into the yard. We used to sit and watch for deer, birds, chipmunks, groundhogs, bunnies, etc. There is a beautiful backyard with a lawn of soft Yankee grass. None of the scratchy St. Augustine stuff we have to grow here in Florida. I love to walk through Grandma's backyard, even the smell of the dirt is pleasant. I love the way the grass feels beneath bare feet. I have memories of being very small, and Uncle Ralph giving us rides in the wheelbarrow.

The house has its own little apartment on one side, where my great grandmother lived. GG's side of the house could be accessed by either a door that was off Grandma's dining area and opened into GG's dining room, a hallway in the back of the house, and also a 2-ended closet that started in Grandma's dining area and opened into GG's living room. We used to love to sneak into the closet- all 3 of us- and creep quietly to the other door, and jump out and try to scare GG while she was sitting in her living room watching TV. She always acted so startled, and then laughed and laughed. Who knows if we really scared her or not; she probably knew how much fun we thought it was and just played along. But I still remember her laughing.

I don't have many memories of my grandfather; he died when I was 7. But the few vivid memories I do have are of course at the Birdhouse. In one memory Grandpa was sitting in the middle room of the house, and I remember being small enough to have to climb onto his lap. I don't remember him saying anything, but I remember a big warm hug and the smell of pipe smoke. I also have memories of Grandpa and the other grown-ups sitting in the backyard while we played.

The basement has changed alot over the years. Mom told me that even since we visited last October, they have done alot of work down there & it looks great.
But the basement used to be what I called the Blair-Witch Basement. Dark and shadowy and super creepy... dirt floor, creaky steps, cobwebs. Tons of random old tools, equipment, etc. Even when we were teenagers, my sisters and I wouldn't go down there alone! But still, we loved it.

We were up there in the winter only a couple of times. We used my mom's old sleds and tried to sled down the little hill behind Mrs. Romano's house (Grandma's neighbor). We built a snow fort under a large evergreen tree on the corner of the house. We hiked through the woods and looked for animal tracks.

A trip to Grandma's always meant days and days of games and playtime, fun with my sisters, and fun with family members we love and don't get to see much.

I am also proud that the house was built mostly by my family. I have always had an immense appreciation for anything hand-crafted. Although it needs the kind of work all old houses do, it's a solid house, and it's finely built.


So, today when I got an email from my Aunt that had the link to the realtor's listing for the house... it hit me. I opened the link, and there were the pictures of one of my favorite places in the whole world. For sale. And I cried. I didn't expect it, but I did. It all became real.

http://www.era.com/erabin/listing?Property=2550323

We are heading up to visit in mid-August. I am so glad we will be able to get to spend some more time with everyone there before the house is gone. I know that this is the right thing for Grandma, and I am happy for her that she won't have the burden of a huge old house anymore. But it is still hard. I can't imagine what my mom and my aunts & uncles are feeling. My uncles even helped my Grandpa to build alot of the house.

I pray all the time that someone who will love and truly appreciate that house is going to come along.