Every time Miranda Lambert's new song, "The House That Built Me", comes on the radio, I find myself reflecting on the life I had growing up as a child. I was raised on a small family farm in a 150+ year old farm house. Life was golden and nearly perfect every day of my life. I had agriculture at my finger tips, and I took full advantage of it all. Very early on I learned how to let my parents know which farm animal I wanted to visit by making their noises. I would bahhh for the sheep, neigh for the horses, moo for the cows, quack for the ducks and point to the chickens, rabbits, and our cats and dogs. I can remember a lot of things from that old house. I learned how to walk by pushing a 12 pack of coca-cola around the house. I had a doll named Lissie that was life size, and I used to dress her up in my old baby clothes. As an only child I took life seriously. I knew that I was a blessing in my mama's eyes and I'll always be my daddy's little girl. It is at this point that I write that I start to get a lump in my throat and a little moist eyed. I have so many great memories in my memory bank from my childhood. I've found that 6 months prior to moving away to college and every since then, they pop up in the most random order at the most random times. For example, I can remember that I had a drawer in my dad's shop desk that housed all of the cool little things I found. It was mine and mine alone. My mom used to keep buckets at each door of the house so that I could empty my pockets of the cool rocks that I collected while wandering around the ranch. I used to take laps around the house, past the chicken coop, up by the horse barn, and through the garden while jump roping or hopping with a toy that went around your ankle and it counted how many times you swung it around your feet while jumping over it--the gravel road beat that thing up pretty good! I remember getting drug out front by our dog, because I was too stubborn to let go. I also remember pogo-sticking 1000 times in one try!
It's things like these that I have been remembering quite randomly for the past year or so that make me smile and appreciate the surroundings that I grew up in. There is a slight problem, though, that eventually turned into a blessing. When I was in about the 6th grade, the area around our ranch got sold for housing development. The sheep field down below was designated to be houses, the pasture our cattle were in was about to be a golf course, and my house, the house that built me, was going to be a school. We moved my Freshman year in high school to another ranch across town. It turns out this property wasn't as old as my childhood house had been, and the barn was better able to accommodate my 4-H and FFA livestock projects. Things were going to work out.
Then I moved to college, began having these random flashbacks and memories, and Miranda's song came out. These series of events have made my life over the past few months very enjoyable. It feels good to be able to remember what life was like when I was young, because it is so different from life today. My life was enriched by my childhood surrounded by agriculture, and I am SO very thankful and blessed to have been raised were I was, and to be living the life I am now. Unfortunately, I don't have the option to go back to the house that built me, but I am stronger because of it. I will never forget how that place impacted my life, and I am continuing to grow just like the flowers that my mom planted and the vegetables that I helped my dad cultivate in our garden.
Has Miranda's new song touched your life in some way, or sparked a childhood memory? Or do you experience the same random memory flashbacks that I have been having? Cherish them as they come up. Trust me-- you are a better person because of them!
~Malorie
