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THE TIME MY GRANDMOTHER--

Mary Crawford

. Yes, I realize my asking price is r-ather' high for a house

this old; but you see, it means a lot more than just a house

to me. I was born in it, and live lived here all my life--

~urned seventy-five last month. Only reason Jim selling now

IS that my doctor advised me to move to a sunnier climate.

?o 1111be going to Florida as soon as I sell the house, though

~talmost breaks my heart to leave. I feel as if I know every

Inch of it personally. Take this crystal chandelier here in

the hall, for instance. My grandfather had it brought from

Ge~many as a gift for my grandmother on their fifth wedding

annIversary-~nearly a century ago. And this woodwork

around the front door--l've often been asked who the artist

was who carved those Biblical characters; but as a matter

of fact, he was just a local craftsman, completely unknown.

What? That chip above the door? Thatls from the time my

grandmother--but lid better start at the beginning.

hi My grandfather studied electro-magnetism under Henry
irnse lf, back in its earliest days, and he distinguished him-

self so greatly in his work that he was offered a full pro-
fessorship at the University when he was only thirty-two.
S~ he came here and bought this house. You might bear in
rnind , sir, that although itls just a twenty-minute drive from
here to the campus now, a hundred years ago it was quite
a trip. Grandfather had to leave quite early in the morning
to get to his classes, but he always said it was a small price
to pay. He was raised in the country, and he loved living

out here without another house in sight and all those trees
between the house and the road. After the episode Jim going
to tell you, though I sometimes wonder whether his reason
f or I"rvinq so far fro' m the University werenlt that--but Jill get

on with it.

When my grandpal'ents bought it, the house had stood
empty for several years and was in need of repairs. In the
f.:ocess of seeing to these my grandfatherls personality was
ir'rnly impressed on the whole house. I can still almost feel
him sometimes, especially here, with the woodwork and the
chandelier that he had put in and that duelling pistol that he

Picked up in Europe--he never had the mate to it--hanging
at the foot of the stairs; and also on the third floor, where

he had his study.

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