After the Troy Farmers Market, Marty and I headed down to NJ to my brother Dan’s place. My sister Jennifer and her kids were going for the weekend too.
I never heard of the town where Dan, his wife Liz, and their 3 daughters live. We took the NY Thruway to Route 287 in NJ to 78. Once we got on 78, things looked very familiar. The closer and closer we got, I kept telling Marty that I’ve been this way tons of time on my family’s Sunday drives.
Just as I said, “I do know this place,” I saw the sign for Spruce Run reservoir. That’s it! My father loved Spruce Run, so we visited there a lot when I was little. He also used to fish there with his friends.
As the GPS led us to Dan’s, I knew the turn for Spruce Run was coming up on the right; my brother’s home is directly across the street from the turn and the sign into the reservoir. What are the chances?
My brother and his wife Liz own a 210-year-old farmhouse across the street from where George Washington stayed, ate, drank, and made strategic plans during the Revolutionary war. My dad and I both loved American history; maybe that was why he loved this place. After all, there are plenty of other beautiful places stocked with fish he could have gone to.
Have you ever seen one of those movies where a character misses meeting people who were destined to meet in their lives? They keep “just” missing each other. They are often at the same places simultaneously but didn’t cross paths…then later, after they do meet, they connect all the dots.
This has been true for me many times. Marty and I were at the same music events at the same time when we were young adults. I dated the guitar player in a band where Marty was the lead singer. I never saw their band play; I just used to watch Tom practice his guitar at his house.
I can imagine sitting in the backseat of my parent’s smoke-filled car on our way to Spruce Run; I am about 8 years old. After we pull off Route 78, we turn down a country road, then veer off to the right, turning to the reservoir. We drove and turned right in front of my brother’s place before he was even born. The movie audience gasps when they make the connection themselves when they recognize Dan’s future farmhouse.
The movie has many flashbacks, and this would be a big moment in the film. Almost bigger than not meeting Marty until the time was perfectly right.
I believe people are in our lives to serve a purpose, who are here with us while working through our Earth School lessons. Some people are good, others bad; it’s all about making the right choices and realizing this person’s role and is part of your soul group. It’s very complicated psychic & spiritual shit, but I know for me, this is 💯 true.
Their farmhouse was pretty incredible, especially since their home is older than ours, and it is right smack in the middle of the Revolutionary War area, very close to Valley Forge. George Washington and Old Honest Abe are my favorite presidents. As a complete wacked out Hamilton fantastic, the play made me retune into the Revolutionary War time period and how much I love learning about it.
The fireplace in their farmhouse was massive! I’ve never seen one this big except in Williamsburg, Va, on a family vacation one year. I remember watching the actors in their 1700 clothing cooking in a fireplace just like Dan’s. I wanted to eat what they were cooking, I remember. Lol!
There was a big metal arm on the left side of the fireplace with a hook at the end. The arm swung back and forth; the hook was to hold a pot. There was also a built-in bread oven located at the back right wall of the fireplace; I imagined how many loaves of bread and what types of different foods that were prepared. I love food anthropology, and this stuff is right up my alley!
All the wood in the farmhouse was just like our home; hand-plained beams with marks in the wood. The house was solid for sure; they all were, that’s why they are still structurally 200 years later.
Dan and Liz are restoring the farmhouse, not renovating, keeping, and replacing as many authentic things as they can. We tried to do this when we were restoring our home as well.
The weekend was a family-filled time of barbecuing, sitting around a fire pit, talking and getting to know each other, watching movies, and laughing. Having a large family like this is something I never thought I’d be a part of.
I could almost feel my dad’s presence when the adults all went for a historic walk near their farmhouse. This is where in that make-believe movie I mentioned, people start to get chocked because it’s just so heartwarming that we found each other and now we were all together in the same place I used to come when I was a little girl; long before my brother was even born since he is 13 years younger than me.
When the audience puts away their tissues, they are ambushed with such raw emotion between a sister and a brother. They watch as they get to know each other and see just how absurd it is they the two have more in common than imaginable. Health issues, spiritual beliefs, emotional issues, the same food likes, the love of cooking, and we both love to play the drums and are self-taught.
Realizing we have gone through so many similar life situations and only knowing each for less than 2 years makes everything bittersweet. I have many things in common with my sister Jennifer; that too would make your head spin. DNA is a curious thing when you never had it in your life before.
I am so blessed and lucky that my family circle has expanded, but it also closed a big hole in the circle at the same time. Every birthday growing up, I wished for siblings whenever I blew out my birthday candles; this gives the movie audience’s heartstrings another tug and a happy ending. ❤️
***I’ve wanted to post this sooner but just haven’t had a spare second actually to sit down and write. I’m getting it in under the wire of my bedtime, which will be very soon. Good-nite! 😴
What a great post – the coincidences are amazing!
Wow! Finding your siblings has brought such joy to our life, so glad you were able to. I am very familiar with the area of Spruce Run; my father hunted the area before the reservoir was made and as children we also took drives there to the old lookout (there was no beach area then) My parents now live in the area and can see Spruce Run from their home.
During the 70’s, our family of 6 would drive out from our Matawan home to look for a more rural place to live in a larger home to accommodate our expanded needs. Exploring the roads out in your brother’s home area, we loved the lay of the land, but alas, property was not available to purchase. Later after, we settled for a move to Texas, we learned the area was being developed for Corporate headquarters and golf clubs! I remember it well! Good to learn some folks are able to enjoy the rolling lands.