Like the pictures seen while flipping through a scrapbook, Senior Peyton Ludwig remembers each and every moment that made her fall in love with her grandparent’s quaint house of warmth and comfort.
“They are people who I found good foundations in my life,” Peyton said, “that makes me want to become [like them] when I’m older.”
When she was younger, Peyton and her family took periodic trips out to her grandparent’s place, in Jackson, MI. Settled in a neighborhood with fields and woods, the home was quite the desired destination for holidays and other hosted parties.
“I never valued going to their house as much until I could start driving,” Peyton said, “then I realized, ‘Oh I can actually just go and hang out with them’. It’s a lot of fun.”
She remembers lots of good times at her grandparent’s house, from gardening to cooking new, amazing dishes, and even just having fun chasing friends and maybe breaking a few things in the process.
During one simple game of tag, Peyton remembers an innocent chase that turned sour when her cousin decided on a sudden change of action. Peyton tumbled down the stairs after a push and landed just right to break her arm.
Her cousins and neighbors were not all destructive. A much calmer activity existed beyond a shortfall down the stairs. With it a magnificent assortment of small model tractors.
“It brings back memories from down below the models,” Peyton said, “they have a model tractor that we used to ride in, one of the pedal ones. [My cousins and I] would put our beanie boos in the back and ride around in the basement.”
Among the mass of collectors’ toys and models, Peyton and her cousins would spend their time playing with stuffed animals and having pretend jobs as chauffeurs.
It doesn’t have to be a safe place. It’s more of just a special place. I would call it a place where you go and people just love you. It makes me happy, and it’s as simple as that.
— Peyton Ludwig
Her grandfather, who retired from John Deere, kept many vehicles, as well as sold each and every age and model. With the amount of time she’s spent within the metal and plastics, she can safely that this is nothing like she’s ever seen before.
Along with this spectacular collection of tiny tractors, her grandfather also embarked on other hobbies, such as gardening and cooking.
“Whenever [my brother and I] would go,” Peyton said, “our parents would drop us off, he’d be like ‘Oh come work in the garden with me’. Then we would learn about the plants and what we were doing with them.”
Time spent in the garden would educate as well as grow even more memories in Peyton’s mind. Like strong oak trees, each and every lesson her grandfather would teach, she learned a work ethic that would stand and grow for an eternity.
“I guess he was teaching us to work ethically,” Peyton said, “because my Memaw always said ‘Bring them back inside, they don’t want to keep doing all your work’. But then he wanted to keep putting us back to work.”
Peyton values her time immensely and looks forward to every single visit and road trip. As her grandparents grow older, the times are starting to grow longer. She longs to keep returning and is constantly trying to make the commute herself.
Despite life getting filled with constant surprises and adventures around the corner, Peyton reminisces, and treasures each moment spent in the barn during Cinco De Mayo hitting pinatas or riding around on a tractor both real and play, but also the food and hard work put into living in a home.
With the times changing, Peyton continues to trek on, knowing that she has a mind full of good times, brimming and bubbling with love.
“It doesn’t have to be a safe place,” Peyton said. “It’s more of just a special place. I would call it a place where you go and people just love you. It makes me happy, and it’s as simple as that.”
