Sep 5, 2013

Red

Five Minute Friday Prompt: Red

Go


I can picture the red accents in my mother's kitchen. The flowers behind the glass cabinet door, the plate decorated with red circles and squares, the toaster that sat on the granite counter.

I see this vision in my mind and I'm brought back to a place of peace and comfort. This kitchen holds so many memories for me. It was redone after I moved out once but then it became my place of work when my children and I moved back in.

I fed babies in that kitchen, taught two of my little ones how to eat solid food sitting in the tall green stool. The brown table held 30+ years of meals, tears, laughter, and arguments. The walls were tinted with splashes of spaghetti sauce.

My kids celebrated 9 birthdays in that kitchen all  together.

They would shuffle around my feet as I fixed macaroni and cheese for the hundredth time and served cereal in plastic bowls I ate out of when I was their age. We danced around the island to relieve stress and I laid on the counter crying when life didn't make sense.

It's also where I served Bryan his first home cooked meal prepared with anxious hands and a nervous heart.

Mom said she never felt like a decorator, many times she asked my sister and I what colors went together. The kitchen was her project and she made it a place I will always remember. The red grabbed   visitors when they entered the room but the color captured my heart.


Stop




Joining Lisa-Jo Baker  and other bloggers to write for five minutes without any major editing or refining. The point is to write what's on you heart and share.
Five Minute Friday

51 comments:

  1. I do love the color red, and I love how it colors your memories! Beautiful post, friend!

    ReplyDelete
  2. this made me remember my apartment in college, the one we could have them paint an accent wall and we chose red for our dining room...and then that accent wall followed me home and the barn red now watches me while I watch tv in our living room :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, that last line. "The color captured my heart." Love.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Lindsey!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yep, red as a way of making that kind of impression. Thanks for reading Crystal!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mollianne Buster MasseySeptember 5, 2013 at 10:35 PM

    I love this. I wonder how many times we've all laid on the counter and cried 'when life didn't make sense'?
    BTW...And I'm married to an engineer, too. A color blind engineer who doesn't see red.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you Kim!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amy @ Coffee with the Mrs.September 5, 2013 at 10:41 PM

    Your words made me think of my own kitchen growing up and all the memories stored there. Wow. It's incredible how God can use the corners of our homes to bring us comfort...even years after we've lived there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've always wanted a red kitchen. It sounds like your mother is an amazing woman. <3

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks Megan. She created a beautiful place!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I agree Amy, each of our senses are so powerful! Thanks for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  12. How cool is that?! And we probably have all leaned over those counters and sobbed. Thank you for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Will we ever really know if the colors help to etch and recall the memories of the the memories give a life and feeling to the colors? I suspect the latter.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love those images. Beauty woven through pain. Amazing how we live so much of our lives in our kitchens! Hugs girl!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Sarah, I love this. Seriously. To see the growth in you from child to mom to heartbreak and to new love. And all centered around the warmth of your mom's kitchen. LOVE. Hugs to you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you Vanessa! It really does show the transitions in my life. Grateful for ALL of the memories.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Thank you Casey. I am realizing that most beauty comes along side of pain and makes something even more incredible. Thank you for reading!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Very philosophical tonight Melissa, I love it! Thank you for reading my friend.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Such beautiful memories. Very heartwarming. :-) Thank you for sharing. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you for reading Faith!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh that boy and his smile! If it hasn't changed yet I know it will always be the same. These memories you have wrapped up in the color red are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Thank you Andi. That kitchen holds so many memories for me.


    xoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  23. beautiful post. thanks for sharing. and I love that picture at the top. your little boy is precious!

    Linking up from FMF

    Jessica

    http://mybeautifulli.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. Sarah, I love this. To have such beautiful memories sparked by colors is a blessing that you will always have. Thanks for taking us though your life, through your eyes and through your moms kitchen.

    ReplyDelete
  25. This is all sorts of lovely, my friend! So many memories wrapped around a kitchen... we sort of have a deal here... the kitchen is where we gather in our house... it's where we heap up broken in a pile on the floor - or where we snuggle in cozy as healing unfolds... there is so much nourishment that happens here.... and it sounds - that happened there, too! Amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  26. So special! I love all the history there. And that she wasn't sure if the decor went together but that it is a gorgeous place in your mind. Thank you for sharing it with us.

    ReplyDelete
  27. It's lovely to reminisce about such wonderful memories...it really warms the heart and makes you smile. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Our kitchens are the hub or our homes, I know mine gets more traffic than other rooms. There are so many memories there, thanks for sharing yours.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you Jessica!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Amy, the memories just popped in my head. Years of little moments all gathered together. Thank you for reading my friend!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Karrilee, thanks so much for the beautiful description. It seems the kitchen is the "heart" of the home for many. Thank you for reading friend!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Yes it does Aileen. There is so much more to that space that I didn't write about! Thank you for reading!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks for visiting Kimberly. Kitchens do seem to attract the most attention. Food, conversation, and love. What more can we ask for??

    ReplyDelete
  34. Such sweet and wonderful memories, kitchens are truly the heart of the house!! Loved reading this!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Loved this post! i could just picture everything happening in that kitchen! Beauitfully written. Visiting from FMF :)

    ReplyDelete
  36. What beautiful memories. I love this! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  37. This is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. What wonderful memories in such a special place.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thank you Jen, so glad you stopped by today!!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Thank you Ashley, they are cherished memories. Glad you stopped by!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Thank you for reading Charissa!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Thanks so much!!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Beautiful memories of your mother's kitchen. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I pray that my kitchen brings warm memories to those who come :) Have a blessed weekend. Tara.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Beautiful evocative post! What a fabulous collection of memories you have shared from those key moments in that red kitchen.

    Thanks for sharing at Essential Fridays.

    Blessings

    Mel from Essential Thing Devotions

    ReplyDelete
  45. So much love wrapped up in a kitchen. Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  46. Thank you Barbie!! The kitchen seems to be the most important place!

    ReplyDelete
  47. Thanks Mel! We spent so much time in that one room, I have so many more memories.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Oh my friend, I pray the same thing. Thanks for reading!!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Thank you for reading Krista!!

    ReplyDelete
  50. Thank you so much Mel!!

    ReplyDelete
  51. Cutest picture ever ... my little is always attempting to grab the dog food. Love the red all over your kitchen. I would be delighted to have you share this with our group of moms. Stop by to be encouraged as we have a guest post splashing us all in God's goodness. And as always, I would be crazy honored to have you link up.

    Just moms. Sharing our notes. Creating a melody.

    http://justsarahdawn.blogspot.com/2013/09/thank-goodness.html

    ReplyDelete