It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does…it blows me away.

Gasp! “It’s Ginny McKinney!” 

I had just stepped into the door of Lynn Nicholson’s house when I caught her eye from across the room. 

“OMGosh! It’s you!” Lynn said as she walked toward me. “Welcome to my home!”

We greeted each other with a warm hug as if we’d met years ago. And, in a way, we did. I had recently arrived in West Virginia when I saw in the paper they were having a walking tour of Victorian homes in the Historic Julia-Ann District in Downtown Parkersburg. I knew these beautiful homes by sight as we often drove by when I was growing up. I remember pressing my nose to the window in the backseat of the Oldsmobile, dreaming of what such elegance might look like inside. Never dreaming one day I’d know people who lived there and could go inside to visit. 

The summer of 2015, I walked up and down the streets of Julia-Ann Square visiting yard sales. A woman and her husband were sitting in the driveway in front of their lovely home. We struck up a conversation and immediately clicked. I gave her my card. Now, three years later, I step into her home on the Christmas tour and…she knows me. I mean…she really KNOWS me. Lynn has been reading my blog every morning since the day we met in her driveway and I am equally thrilled and humbled. 

As we walked around her house, Lynn shares her treasures and gives us a history of the home. It was built in two phases. The original part of the house is log and sits in the back of the lot. Additions were added on over the years and the house gives off a Federalist vibe with a taste of Colonial thrown in for good measure. The principal floors are impeccable and built in bookcases provide ample space for the family heirlooms they keep on display year round. 

There were four houses on the tour this year. One is owned by one of my former classmates from high school, Debra Schaffer. Another is a massive mansion that is for sale. But the one house everyone always raves about belongs to my lifelong friend and relative, Judy Smith and her husband, Norm. If you recall, Judy and Norm had us over for dessert the week after the wedding. Norm gave Mr. FixIt the tour of the house as Judy and I sat and visited. 

The Smith-Caswell House is truly like stepping into a museum. And they live there. You can go there any time of the day and it looks the same. The beds are always made. The dishes are always done. The house is always dusted and impeccably clean. And every surface is adorned with something delightful. Music boxes, statuary, silver, crystal, china, and art from around the world is virtual eye candy. The icing on the cake is the warm hospitality with which every guest is greeted. This home was not only decorated for the owners, it is appointed with the guest in mind. The Smiths know this house is bigger that them. It belongs to us all a little bit. At least during the summer Garden Tour and the winter Christmas Tea. 

I took my wonderful friend, Charlotte with me this year. She is my cousin’s wife and my dear friend who graciously feeds the cats at the farm when I am not there. I wanted to do something special to repay her and since she has never toured the Victorian homes, we met for a long afternoon of browsing and sitting for cookies and Wassail. 

As we stood in the small first floor bedroom in Judy’s house…in walked Hubby #1 and his wife! This brought the visit full circle and allowed me to connect the dots for Charlotte. Judy’s parents lived in what is now the home of my heart…my grandparents’ farm. Her parents brought her home to that house after she was born. They moved and my grandparents purchased the farm. Our families were always close and I always called her parents Uncle Ken and Aunt Lucy. When I started dating Hubby -#1, he spoke of HIS Uncle Ken and Aunt Lucy and they turned out to be the same people. Uncle Ken was my former mother-in-law’s brother. Confused yet? Hang on! When I married Hubby #1 and we had Daughter #1, that made her and my grandchildren blood relatives of Judy! I love that I am close to my exes and consider them family. I get along well with their wives. Heck, I get along well with Mr. Fixit’s ex wife. I try to exemplify love in all relationships so the generations coming up know it doesn’t have to be ugly when marriages don’t work out. 

I want to end by letting you know I spoke with my cousin Tom’s wife last night. She wanted me to know she is doing surprisingly well. She has her moments, but having the four and a half years to grieve along the way as she prepared to say goodbye has been a great help in her adjustment. She appreciates everyone’s prayers. So, thank you for that. 

Life is a huge quilt. We are all connected in some way, but love is the thread that holds us all together. ❤️

“We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

1 John 4:19-21 NIV