Tuscumbia. Beautiful, Simple, Comfortable

Our good friends the Henries came with us to see Helen Kellers birthplace. We switched kids up and so the drive was really fun for everyone.Erika and Casey looking at some of the pieces in the museum.This is Helen's original bed. She shared this upstairs room with Annie, her teacher. The bed is toddler sized.


This is "the" key that was used by Helen to lock Annie in her room.

This is the cottage that Annie took Helen to live in so that they could have one on one time without family interference to her teaching. It is literally only about 50 feet from the main house and separated by only a small flower garden. Kind of amazing.

Here is the dining room where the family ate and where many of the stories of the early times with Helen took place.

And of course, the pump, where Helen finally was released from the darkness of her mind! Fantastic!

Everything was smaller than I had imagined it. The home, I would guess, was about 2000 square feet and had 3 bedrooms. The master bedroom was on the main floor, across from the parlor and down the hall was a the dining room and a sitting room. Upstairs had two good sized bedrooms. One for the girls and one for the boys.

It was a very modest home by today's standards. But the Kellers were very upper class. They were the rich people. Social expectations have grown and changed. It's amazing to me how much I "need." What size of home is "too small." It has reinforced my desire to live simply. The furnishings in the rooms were simple and beautiful and the rooms didn't seem too small because they didn't have too much stuff. My goal is to live that way, too. Beautiful, simple, comfortable.