Some of you may know and some of you may not, but we are renovating our home in St Johnsbury Vermont. This isn't just any old home, it's an old home with a beautiful love story. The story and history behind this home could go on for days, but the main point is how much their love story has inspired the character and hard work going into this gut job. Ed and Ruth Crane grew old together in this home, celebrating a whopping sixty-eight anniversaries together under it's roof. Sixty-eight years worth of memories. Beautiful.

Knowing each other since they were children, Ed and Ruth had spent a lot of time together growing up. When Ed deployed to Italy during WW2, Ruth maintained contact with him through writing letters to him on a regular basis. After four long years of faithful service with the Army AirCorps, Ed returned and went separate ways from the military. They were married shortly there after and made the investment of a whopping $5,000 in a larger piece of land with a quaint little home on it in 1946. This is where the real story comes in, the life they built together in this old home.

The investment they made paid off big- in way more ways than one. The farm proved wonderful for blessing them with plenty of bounty. They worked extremely hard to run a chicken farm while producing enough goods from the land to provide for their family. He knew fruits, vegetables and trees. She knew the wildlife, flowers and the weather that surrounded them. Together, they were able to find the perfect combination of skills to provide for their rapidly growing family. Over an eight year period, they had five wonderful boys. The home only has one bathroom, so I'd imagine it got rather cramped at times. With limited space, they made the best of it with Ruth's extremely organized manner. Meals were scheduled, shower time was allotted and chores were a shared responsibility. Over the years, they made minor adjustments to the house to accommodate their lives. Probably the most profound change they made(probably Ruth's favorite too) was upgrading her wood burning stove she used to cook on to an electric stove and then to a full kitchen in the 70's.

As time went on and the boys got older, they did away with the chickens. Ed and Ruth became extremely involved with their community. Ed was part of the state legislature for 17 years while Ruth volunteered at the museum. As time went on, she was hired on as a full time staff member(her organizational skills came in handy for this one.) Through the years, they accomplished many things under this old home's roof together. The greatest accomplishment in my eyes is the legacy they left to be carried on. Their family(*photo credit to Peter Crane.) Still missing a lot of family in California.

'Poppy and Grammy' moved into the Saint Johnsbury Health and Rehab clinic in 2014. Sixty. Eight... Sixty-eight beautiful, loved filled years under one old roof. <3 They lived happily together for almost two more years before Grammy sadly passed away this past May. Poppy is still doing well despite really missing Ruth. He still cracks some pretty good jokes and maintains his desire for dessert.

My husband- Paul, daughter- Kadynce and I moved into this old home in 2015 after Paul separated from the Marine Corps. We found out we were pregnant four months later with baby boy Klyde, born June 24, 2016. I'm noticing some trends... But I love the trends this family has.

We decided while we were still pregnant that the house needed some SERIOUS work. Paul's dad/ Ed's son, Stan, agreed to help Paul take on this HUGE project. It's not Stans first rodeo though, he built the home Paul and his sister Becky grew up in down in Etna, NH. Now they are taking on the house that Stan and his four brothers grew up in. This will be an ongoing documentation of the rehabilitation of this old home.

I'd love to hear your feed back on this project as well as any memories the family would like to share that took place in this old home. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested in following the progress of this project: This Old Home.