My Grandparents Houses

Blalock Reservoir which I believe was part of my Grandfather's land and his lake.
I believe what is pictured is the dam that separated it.

I don't think I have any pictures of my Grandfather or Grandmother all I have are my memories. Maybe one day I will be able to get copies of important photos.  My Paternal Grandmother lived in Sun City California last I saw of her. My Grandma Harriett lived with her second husband the only Paternal Grandfather I have ever known his name is Donald. I remember my Grandma Harriett used to collect lots of dolls and my Grandpa had a special chair that he would let us occasionally sit in. I remembered that's where I learned to play Chinese Checkers and she had an awesome old organ like this oh and Grandma always wore wigs I don't know why I think they are dreadful. I remember Grandpa's blue and white full sized pick up. I bet it looked similar to this . I last saw my Grandma when I was 10 and she passed away from Diabetes when I was 18.

My maternal grandfather is one of my favorite people to ever walk this earth. I cherish him like I cherish my own children. My cousins and sisters called him Papa Bear. Papa Bear lived off of Noah's Ark Road in Jonesboro, Georgia with his second wife Nancy. My Grandma died when my mom was young. My Papa Bear owned a large farm. There was his single story farm house with a full or daylight basement and a fenced in front yard with a Mimosa tree we always climbed. Next to his house was one of the first houses on the property it was made with big five pound cinder blocks. I heard stories that my grandfather built that house himself and didn't have the brick home built until after he married Nancy and Nancy had three young daughters. So my Mom and Uncle lived in the Cinder Block house. My mom later lived there as an adult and I lived there too when I turned 18. I remember an elderly lady living there before. The Cinder Block House was a small two bedroom house with a living room, dining room, kitchen and one small bathroom. I remember the arch ways were awesome and my mom built a fence for her animals outside. The Brick house I believe had three bedrooms and one bath, a den, kitchen, and a great room. So many Thanksgivings and Christmas' It makes me teary eyed. The next "house" was a small mobile home. I think my Uncle Kenny lived in that house for a short while in my adolescence. Behind the trailer was another fenced in yard for the horses and chickens. He had a Horse stall and a chicken coop there.  There was also another house I remember it was white and made of wood. I don't remember much about the house but I have vague memories of kids my age living there perhaps a cousin at one time.
If you drive past the brick house and cinder block house there was a pasture for the cows and you go down through the pasture where there was a pig pen but it had long been abandoned by the time I was an adult. Papa Bear just grew some crops and raised cows for the most part. I also remember a very old pick up truck not far from the Pig Pen that Papa Bear left there to rot :). It was right there where you can see the beautiful lake. I used to go down to the lake to write my poetry as a teen and explore as a child. It was a refuge. I remember an old barrel boat rotting on the side of the lake too.
Back to the white house. There was a road between the white house and the trailer home... You could follow the road to the place where Papa Bear kept the farm supplies I think it was in like two 18 wheeler trailers and he had some rabbit coops in there at one time. Through the big gates and it would lead you to the pastures I described above... if you continued down the road you would come upon a beautiful brown house that wasn't owned by Papa Bear. I don't remember talking much with the people that lived there. Go down toward the lake and there was a drive way that snaked up the far side of the lake and it was another house not owned by Papa Bear. I think it was also white and made of wood. At 18 I had a crush on the owners grandson. Boy was he bad news but it was like the song Strawberry Wine by Deanna Carter. I had a on again off again boyfriend too!
I remember when I was younger before the city took the land for the  Reservoir  There was land on one side of the lake that had tree's and creeks and we would have to be careful Uncle Kenny would kill the water moccasins. We would find snapping turtles and God only knows what else. I was always told that Papa Bear had planned on giving each grand child a piece of the bottoms for their own house... until they took it to build their ugly reservoir.
There was a wooded area behind the lake that Papa Bear used to do some logging. That's where I lost my glasses and ooohwee I got in a lot of trouble! There was a picnic area we had a family reunion once. I remember fishing in a John Boat... riding in the back of Papa Bear's pick up to collect fishing fee's (before you needed a license I bet!) and empty the trash can barrels.
So many fond memories of the farm. Not long before Papa Bear died he needed to sell the farm and fought so he wouldn't have to sell it to developers but in that area it was all subdivisions and growing out of farm country.  He and (his brother's that owned neighboring farms) sold to the developers and now I bet the houses there sell for almost half a million dollars.