I took these photos the last time I visited my grandmother’s house on the outskirts of Greenville, SC. Both her and Trussel had passed by then.
My sister and I called her Mema Polly. Trussel was my step grandfather and I have a lot of fond memories visiting them as a child.
I wish I had taken more photos—especially of the inside of the house. It’s hard to date these. I don’t have the RAW files so there’s not much metadata. I think these must have been taken in 2012 or 2013 with my Nikkon D3000. I took and framed the prints for my mom’s birthday that year.
I’m not really sure what to include with these photos. They bring back a lot of memories. So I’m just going to ramble what I remember about my time spent at the Abercrombie Farm.
- I remember spending several childhood Christmas’ there.
- The wood burning fireplace and the occasional burn spots in the red-orange carpet.
- Uncle Ron making egg nog and Aunt Paula making sure it had brandy in it.
- The colorful Christmas tree lights with silver tinsel getting everywhere.
- The Roper Mountain light show.
- Trussel’s old Ford Taurus that was oddly round.
- And learning to playing checkers with him on dented metal board.
- Aunt Paula telling him he’s too old to be up working on the roof of the house.
- Watching him put together a birdhouse.
- Mema laughing in her chair.
- Her singing and playing the piano.
- And hanging clothes on the line behind the house.
- I remember rummaging around in the basement filled with cool old tools.
- My mom reading me Go Dog Go before bed every night.
- The two aircraft carriers my older cousins left.
- And two large blueberry bushes in the back
- And a freezer full of frozen blueberries.
- Ham, cheese and maricle whip sandwiches for lunch.
- A tiny TV with Benny Hill on it.
- Being bored while the adults sat out in lawn chairs in the car port watching birds.
- An incredible mid-century record console.
- And portraits of my mom and her siblings in their 20s and 30s above it.
- My mom climbing into a tree to get an my Airhog out (and getting poison ivy).
- Quiet afternoons where you could hear the clock above the fireplace ticking.
