DAY 42: NEW HOPE/NEW HAVEN

DAY  42: NEW HOPE/NEW HAVEN

    

I would love to know the origins of how our Nelson County neighboring towns of New Hope and New Haven got their names. “New Hope”! “New Haven”! How hopeful and positive those names are…

I have always felt close to both of those towns – and that whole area – mostly because that is where my mother grew up. When I was a child, our family traveled from Loretto to New Hope or New Haven nearly every Sunday for many years to visit our relatives there. Wonderful times!

The real treat for us kids, though, was when my mom would spontaneously decide to take a weekday trek into the neighboring county – always a very leisurely affair. If half of us kids were bare foot it was no big deal. If my mom decided to stop at every hickory nut or walnut tree along our route so we could all bail out to gather those treats, so much the better. And we could always count on stopping off at a certain spring between our home and our destination to get a refreshing drink of clear, cold water – that was a given!  There were no time constraints on those excursions; my mom had the precious gift of patience. She allowed - and encouraged - all her children to enjoy each moment to its fullest.  I will always be thankful for that gift from her!

With that background from my youth, it was a welcome treat in my “grown up” days just a few years ago when my mom suggested that some of us ride over to the New Hope area to take a last look at the convent/old school there. It was slated for destruction.

My sister, a parishioner there, had a key to the house. My aunt had attended school there but was not able to visit that place she so dearly loved before it was to be destroyed. So for our own curiosity and for our Aunt Norma Rose we set out to document what that old school and convent was like in its last days.

Here are just a few photos from that special day…

 This is the view of the convent/old school house from the front.

This photo helps you understand the convent building and its relationship to the Church.

This is just a photo of my sister opening the door to the wonders that awaited us all! 

It was a very gloomy place in many ways - especially, to me, this abandoned stairwell. Kind of spooky.

  This is my sister, Norine, looking out the convent window at the church. With EXTREME photoshopping by me! : )

 

 My sister and my mother in a hallway...

A window in the convent with filmy white curtains...I wondered how many nuns or students had peered out this window over the years...

Another view of the building ready for destruction...

 

 A last view of the kitchen...

A bathroom. That is me in the mirror as I was photographing that scene...

 

 The back door of the convent/school....why did we even need a key to get in?

 Here, I'm looking out a broken window glass into the yard.

 

 

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We decided to explore the church next door...

I'm looking down from the choir loft on this one...

 

 Oh! We were so brave! This is my mother just before entering the space seldom seen - above the choir loft! We decided to see how high we could climb safely in this church!

 My husband - on the way UP...

 

 What a surprise to see this scene made possible by some history minded individual! If that chair could talk!

 

We were high above the tree-tops at this point...we'd made it to the rafters.

 The bell! This is as high as we could go - but oh MAAAaaaaan!? I did not expect to find graffiti from when I was only one year old up there in that space! Is nothing sacred? ; )

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Oh well....that is the end of our tour. I'm glad you came along. Be careful on your way down!