Starting to Build

Not long after Mom and Daddy had asked us how we would feel about building a house next to ours for Grandpa Mast's they decided to go ahead and start building.

Once again an excavator moved in and started digging a basement and getting everything ready to start building. Several more trees had to be cut and most of our nice garden had to be sacrificed. As much as I loved my grandparents I rebelled inside that we had to build a house for them. I thought it was ridiculous, especially since they already lived right next door to Uncle Eli's. It was very frustrating to me when my friends would make remarks on how lucky I was to be able to have my grandparents live with us. I didn't feel like I could share my feelings with anyone except my brothers who were feeling just like I was.

Once the excavating was done it was time to start laying concrete blocks for the basement walls. Daddy's brother Ezra came to do the majority of the construction work. He lived in Lancaster so he would stay for two weeks at a time, going home only for his church Sundays. Since it was January, there were quite a few days that the weather wasn't fit to work in so Daddy got him to finish remodelling our upstairs that we had started several years before. My room was going to be done first so they moved my bed and furniture down to the sewing room. I wasn't very enthused about that since LV always came into the house through the sewing room on our dates, but I didn't want one of my brothers to be sleeping downstairs and eavesdrop on us either.

Bit by bit the basement walls started to grow. I was starting to get used to the idea that Grandpa's would be moving to us.

It was interesting to have Uncle Ezra living with us. He enjoyed relating stories and in the evenings after supper we enjoyed sitting in the kitchen and listening as Ezra and Daddy recounted their growing up years.