It was an exciting weekend in Brogan World. Molly bought her first house, and we moved her in over the weekend.
She always said if she wasn’t married when she was 22, she would buy her own house. Our girl is one who follows through on promises like that.
She bought a house in Waltham where prices were cheaper. It’s an older home with a lot of character in its woodwork and architecture. There is an archway between the living room and dining room. The stair banister is solid wood with a big square newel post. The light switches are push buttons! I’ve never seen that.
The kitchen and both baths have been updated to a modern flair, and a mudroom/laundry room was added off the garage so even with all the character, it has all the newest amenities.
Moving her into her new home and going to Menards with her to buy all that “new homeowner” stuff brought to mind the days after we were newlyweds and moved into our first house.
It was only days before the wedding before we finalized a deal on a house in Genoa, an unincorporated village about 2 miles from the home farm. The owner had been renting it to a contractor who gutted it and had gotten sheetrock up and and mudded, but that was it.
The kitchen consisted of a stove and hot/cold water pipes and a faucet coming out of the floor. No cabinets, no fridge, no sink, no counters. We arranged for a local cabinet maker to make custom oak cabinets for the kitchen, but it took him four months to get it done. In that time, I washed my dishes by hand in the bathtub.
Those were wonderful times when friends would come for painting parties, since every room in the house needed paint. We would supply the paint, brushes/rollers, food, and beer to anyone who would volunteer to help.
When the cabinets were finally done, I spent more than a week staining, sanding, and varnishing them. As it was the middle of January, I was doing this in the dining room with little ventilation. At the same time, Captain and his best buddy were installing bathroom paneling in the shower with some pretty potent adhesive. We all ended up sitting out on the front step for fresh air after getting loopy on the fumes!
I remember that first Christmas we put our tree in front of the living room window that hadn’t been trimmed yet, and the breeze came in around the window and fluttered the Christmas tree branches.
This is the house where we installed the drop ceiling by ourselves and nearly ended up divorced over it! It is also the house where my dad and his buddies delivered an outhouse to us.
So many good memories!
I remember how proud Molly was when she rented her first apartment, and that pride is increased tenfold now that she has her first house.
She will be doing all those things that we all have done in our first homes. Like rearranging the kitchen cupboards after a week or two of using the kitchen. Or repainting a room to fit her personality. Or seeing something in a store and thinking, "I really need that in my house."
We are so proud of Molly for taking this next step in her adult life and wish her only happiness under her roof!
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