trouble and an attic

We all have memories of our youth; hopefully most of them are good ones. This weekend, I came face-to-face with two distinct but completely unrelated memories.

trouble

As a kid, our family and my uncle and aunt's family went camping together. It wasn't really "roughing it" camping; there weren't tents, outhouses or hikes miles inland from the car. Both families had RV-type trailers, which we kept at the same campground all season, year after year. When it rained, as it often does in Minnesota in the summer, myself and my two cousins that were similar in age (Michele and Tina) would stay in the camper and play boardgames. Our favorite by far was Trouble. We loved pushing that little plastic bubble, hoping a 6 would appear so we could take our turn again. If we landed on an opponent, we would say "you do suck, don't you?" before flinging their plastic game piece from the board.

I had the pleasure of babysitting one of Michele's sons this weekend. We decided to play Trouble. We played game after game, as I tried to teach this 10 year old the strategy for winning, so maybe he could beat his two older brothers the next time they played. And the fond memories of those rainy summer days came back, and I wanted to keep playing until neither of us could play any longer.

the attic

My second cousin and her husband just bought their first house. They had a housewarming party tonight, and invited me to join them and many of our relatives. As the tour of the house took us upstairs, thoughts of my grandparent's house came flooding back. Both my cousin's and my grandparent's houses have those attic/second stories with the one large room and sloped ceilings, typical of mid-20th century homes.

I felt like I was a little kid again tonight, as I looked at the space with its built-in closets, cupboards and dressers. My grandfather had built all those things, plus three identical beds, in their house in the bedroom for my father and his two brothers. My grandparents have both passed away, and I haven't been in their house in over 15 years. But my memories tonight wiped those years away, and for a brief second, I felt the spirit of my grandparents there with me as a viewed this ordinary but oh-so-wonderful room.