Where my ma'ma came from...

During my visit home for Labor Day, I got see the houses in which my mom grew up. There are two… one in front of the other. Both of these houses (and many others to come) were built by my grandpa Ortiz.

The back house was built first. My guess is that it is probably 500 – maybe 600 -- square feet total. It’s a one bedroom house. It has one bed room and a living room… a teeny tiny kitchen and an even smaller bathroom. That’s it. My mom and her four siblings (minus the current baby) slept in the living room.

As you can imagine, they “out grew” that house before they ever occupied it. While they lived in the little house, my grandpa built a slightly bigger house in the front. This house actually had two bedrooms.

My grandma still owns these houses (along with her mother’s house – my great grandmother’s house). I am amazed by the size of these homes. Even my house, at 1000 sq feet, which I call “little”, would have been considered “big” by those standards.

It was inspiring for me to see those homes. It was inspiring for me to hear my grandma talk about raising her family in those homes. I guess I learned, in a different way that -- less, IS indeed, more. It leads me to aspire to simplicity.