A Sweet Vacation Part 3

Our mother, Audrey, is originally from the infamous Pickford, Michigan. Pickford is a small town in the U.P. that is 20 miles south of Sault Ste. Marie. My brother-in-law J had never been to the U.P. other than crossing the bridge to St. Ignace and turning around and driving back across. So, Do (my little sis) decided this would be a good time for Mom to act as tour guide and tell J the stories that she has always shared with us. We had two vehicles on this trip so Mom hopped out of the van and into Do and J's CR-V and away we all went.

Mom has always told us about the log house that her parents had built for their little family in Pickford. It sat just beside the school. She told us how small the house was and how it had no running water or even a bathroom. They carried water from the neighbor's house until they had a well. However, then they only had a cistern pump on the side of the kitchen sink. The laundry was done in tubs with a scrub board. Now they did have electricity, but Mom was 6 when they got their first electric washing machine and the stove was always a wood cook stove. Now, it was the depression, but progress came even slower to the U.P.! Mom's family moved to another home when she was 10 and long after that their house was sided over the logs.

A few months ago a close family friend told us that his cousin had purchased the little house to remodel for his mother. We made sure that we drove through Pickford and past the house on Mom's "tour." The house looked cuter than I remember seeing it in years...all painted up and re-landscaped.  Do and J wanted to take Mom's picture in front of the house and as they were standing in the road, Jerry, (the current owner) came out of his house next door!

After Mom reintroduced herself and told him that this was her childhood home, Jerry invited all of us in to see the little house. Mom was delighted to be inside and see the improvements that were being made and giving us the tour of what she remembered from her childhood. Two of my favorite parts were actually seeing the logs inside a wall that was being repaired and going to the second floor and seeing where Mom and her sisters played with their dolls.

I love it when history lessons come to life...especially when it's family history!

Here are some photos of this little unexpected adventure!

Mom is the baby and her family is in front of the log house, about 1932.

Mom in front of the modernized log house, circa 2011.