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We zipped over to Ashtabula this past weekend to visit my step mom who is loosing her battle with cancer and to attend a small fireside wedding in her home for her youngest daughter. As we often do, we stayed in a guest cottage affectionately named “The Giggle House.” It’s an exquisitely efficient little cottage complete with every convenience and thoughtful detail, owned by Cyndy’s cousins Cassie and Larry.

Ashtabula is a beautiful old town right on Lake Erie. Unfortunately it’s a bit ravaged by the loss of industry, so the downtown is a sleepy reminder of better days. Still, I love it there. We drove by my Grandmother’s old home which has been lovingly restored by two or three owners since the early ’90s. My dad says it was purchased recently for a mere 38K… unbelievable by comparison to Chicago.

I’d buy it in a heartbeat if I could! It will always be Grandma Tiitto’s house no matter who lives there, forever engraved in my memory with the sweet smell of cutout cookies and little Finnish pancakes. The living and dining room walls were granny green. The kitchen had those old fashioned white metal cabinets with chrome handles. The sink was made of classic white enamel with the long drain board to the left. The cookies would always cool on the back sun porch in winter months. When my grandmother merely opened the back door, birds would flock from everywhere, expecting a tasty handout. There used to be an old metal glider on the front porch where she’d sit and say, “hello” to passersby. Simple times gone by.

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