67 Brainard

With all the posts I've written over the past few weeks about finding things that remind me of my childhood bringing back a treasure chest of memories it's ironic that I have to write this one.

Today I received a phone call from my sister, Shari. She told me that the house where we lived when I was a teenager and young adult was gutted overnight by a fire that started in the electrical system.

To the left is a picture of the incident which appeared in the local newspaper. The smoke is coming out of the front bedroom. That room was mine just before I moved out in 1986. It was last used as my dad's train room until he got sick in 1999.

When Shari shared the news with me she told me that she was a bit upset about it. Initially I was not. That was kind of surprising to me. You see almost all my life I've lived with the fear of my house catching on fire. I used to worry about it when before I went to sleep at night. To this day a house fire is one of my most powerful phobias. It strange to hear that the last place we lived as a family had been the victim of one of my greatest life long fears and I wasn't the least bit upset about it.

But then I began to think about the house and started remembering the time we spent there. I have a lot of memories from that house. 67 Brainard Street was a place that hosted some of the best days in the life of my family. Its where both my parents lived the last 20+ years of their lives. Its the place where time on this earth ended for both of them.

Owning that house was a dream come true for my parents. In late 1975, even before we were sure we were going to be able to buy the house, when the deal was still pending, we used to drive by it when we were in the area. We were all praying and hoping that the mortgage would be approved and we could move out of the housing project we lived in at that time. God came through for us. We moved into the house in the spring of 76.

Personally, I could fill a book with memories and stories about the 10 years I lived at 67 Brainard. Its where my cousin, Gary, and I got to live out our "dream" of living together for a few months in 1977. It's where, at age 15, I made my first attempt at being a ventriloquist. It's where I lived when I graduated high school and had my first "real" girlfriend. When I see in my mind's eye the typical Havens family Christmas decorating party that I spoke about in my Rewind Christmas #5 show that's the house I see.

Earlier I wrote that I wasn't very upset about the fact that the house caught on fire. That's because I said "good-bye" to that house back in May 2004. I went back to Jersey for a few days to help my family clean it out so it could be sold. I took some final pictures of the interior and by the time I left to come back home to Kentucky I had let go of any emotional attachment I had to the physical building itself but kept the memories.

Now by nature I am a "home body". I love being at home above any place else. But I now I have such a great life here in this house in Kentucky that the feelings which are connected to "Home" are wrapped around this house and the life I have with Paula. The important thing in this life is not where you live but what happens while you live there. Your relationships, your spiritual growth and your service to others. With apologies to Jimmy Stewart, for me right now, its a a wonderful life.

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven He told His disciples that His Father's house has many mansions. He's there right now preparing a place for us. He's promised to come back and take us to be with Him forever. Does this mean we'll actually live in a mansion in heaven? Well that's what Jesus said.

I've lived in 9 different residence over my first 49 years of life. But no matter how many homes I have had here on earth I will eventually be leaving them all behind. They will all be destroyed, one way or another. Heaven will be my permanent home. That means "I've got a mansion just over the hilltop". For me living for eternity with God will mean living out the ultimate definition of being "Home".