A tale of a tree, part 2: the new

  In 1981, we lost everything we owned in a fire that burned the house we were living in to the ground. This deal with the tree was hard on my parents, but I have pointed out some positives from the experience:

1) They didn't lose anything, but a porch

2) They gained more space, bigger rooms.

  Since the siding and roof was damaged on the front of the house, the whole house was re-sided and got a new roof.

Above, the new living room, 8 feet bigger. We can actually have Christmas in there this year. It was never big enough before. My parents even needed more furniture for it and bought two Lazy Boys.

Mom's bedroom (they keep each other awake if they sleep in the same room) :)

The upstairs is what got the biggest makeover. Pre tree, you walked up the steps and stepped directly into one room, low ceilings, and they went down on the sides. There was no door to it, or to the other bedroom that you had to walk through bedroom #1 to get into. No hallways, just two rooms joined by a large doorway.

Now, there is a hallway, doors on two completely separate rooms, and a new bathroom, or half bath, I guess you'd call it......and 8 foot ceilings.

Dad's bedroom, which he gives up when my little sister and her gang visit from Erie.

And the spare bedroom, which as the sign on the door indicates, is where the grand-kids sleep when they are here. It has two double beds.

 And the front of the house, all completed, though thanks to all of the trucks and traffic in the yard, has no grass.