Really beautiful...I have so many memories in the kitchens of my childhood...both grandmother's and my mother's kitchens were full of love, laughter and life.

Lovely essay.

Aw - childhood kitchen memories are the best. Even though my mother didn't like to cook, she taught me to cook and bake and I loved being in our kitchen. I think about it often.... galley kitchen in a 1960s California ranch. And as for perspective - thank you - I needed that today!

Aw, this makes me feel sad, my daughter who was 5 during the renovation has always said she hates the new kitchen, that she LOVED and misses our old one. She says she loved the "white cabinets with the dots on them". The "dots" were the 80s orange oak showing through the chips on our poorly painted over cabinets!

It felt like home to her though & I feel bad that the reno made her feel that way. She probably hates the new kitchen more due to the ridiculous amounts of time her mom spent on GW planning it....;-)

Heres hoping that someday the memories we make in the new kitchen will leave her feeling the same way the author of that letter does...

I cried. Geesh.

I have no attachment to my childhood home, but could completely her feelings.
I'm sorry there must have been some reason they couldn't buy from her parents. Had to be another tough thing to handle!

I think the kitchens that make us feel welcome and cared for are the ones that will always be timeless.

I LOVE my golden oak because it hearkens back to the turn of the century days when families were tighter, character was earned by hardship, kitchens were UTILITY spaces that served a family, and ANY luxury was appreciated and noticed.

When I see golden oak, I see this. I don't see "cheap builder grade 80s." The REASON it was so popular in the 80s was the boomers hearkening back to the pre-depression days of their parents.

I think we spend FAR too much energy chasing things, and not paying attention to LIFE, any more.

This article reminds us of that.

Thanks for sharing the article.

Although, I was really hoping it would end with the author buying the home from the parents and saving the kitchen, with a few of her own updates!!

That was so poignant and truthful. I love what she wrote and it made me feel guilty. We have moved so much that my kids have no knowledge of "their childhood home". My 13 year old has lived in 5 homes and has no real roots to a kitchen or a bedroom. Will he ever feel the way this woman did? No. However, I hope that one day he will believe that "home" and "food" are wherever there is love, family, and the location he is currently cooking. I hope that he sees that however big or small the kitchen, or however close or far he is from the last place he lived, that he feels at peace with making a meal, a snack, a banquet with the same feelings of happiness, sharing and love that he would have in a childhood home.

Thanks for sharing.

I have not read the article yet, but it is loading on another tab. I did want to say that i fully commiserate with you, firsthouse_mp. We have moved a lot, too, and my boys have good and bad memories at each house. but, like you, i hope they have learned the value of home being where the love and laughter is. That still does not change that fact that I always wanted them to feel like they had "roots" somewhere.