the beginning

i recently went digging to find more information on my father's old house, which was torn down at least 10 years ago. the "manor"...i know, fancy right? was called cherryhurst and was built in 1907 by paul harvey deming. my grandfather bought cherryhurst after the family came back from a 10 year stay in london, england. the home was one of the first year-round houses built on lake saint clair. in the photo where you see the backyard (which actually faced the lake), there is a statue...which my grandfather brought back from england and my father helped place there.

it's incredible to see a photos of a house i'd heard so much about but never got to step foot in. things are always different than you imagined of course.

my father told me that he and his friends used to play dangerous games of tag on the roof, but i never thought it would be on such a steep playing field.

when his mother would annoy him, my father would pick her up and sit her atop the mantle of the fireplace, but i don't know if it's the fireplace in the photo.

my aunts (judy the oldest and jackie the youngest) would grab their sister jill (the middle one) by her ankles and wrists and threaten to toss her down the stairs. jill was somewhat of a nuisance then.

this big old house got to see all of this.