My parents’ house today looks like a normal, middle-class home. However, the same house in my childhood was considerably smaller. My parents moved into this house when they brought me home from the hospital. In 1966, the house consisted of a kitchen that doubled as a tiny eating area, a living area (not really a separate room), a small bathroom, and two small bedrooms. Since then, two bedrooms have been added to one end of the house, the carport has been walled in to become a step-down den at the other end, and the former living area is now a dining area.

After the four of us kids moved out, Dad removed a wall between two of the bedrooms to give he and Mom a bigger bedroom. They added a bathroom off of their bedroom and a hot tub (that I have never seen used though Mom assures me that it...

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