This barn, over 100 years ago, housed cattle, hay and grain. It held straw and the combine, cats and mice when I was growing up. I played house in it, taught the cats school in it, got ticks in my hair in it. It was a great hiding place from my mom, until Duke-dog (the Saint Bernard) would give my mom the look so she knew where I was at. More recently it held machinery for my uncle who is farming the land and my dad.
Not so many years ago my dad and uncle spent hours tediously removing each stone in the wall and foundation and resetting them. Restoring the barn for future generations to enjoy and love just like I did. There was talk that it was time to get the "cat barn" repainted. It wasn't just a barn.
I can remember the cattle that used to come to drink on the south side of the barn and the salt blocks the barn stored. I can remember what I called the "closet" where we kept the cat food, shovels, buckets and brooms. I just remember.....
It was insured, there is talk of rebuilding, but it won't be the same. A piece of my childhood that I loved dearly is gone. I am so thankful for the DeWitt Volunteer Fire Department and the neighboring departments from Welton, Charlotte, Goose Lake and Low Moor for their help in keeping the fire from spreading to another building just to the north. The ambulance from Genesis and the Clinton County Sheriff's Department also responded. I am thankful that no one was injured while saving the machinery or fighting the fire.
For those of you who say, "Oh, it was just barn.", no it wasn't. Not to me. It was my beloved cat barn that can never be replaced. It was like my second home while growing up. Tomorrow I will go and look at the rubble again and look for something, anything that I can keep at my home from my barn.
So as tears glide freely down my face, I remember.....it wasn't just a barn.
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