Home gives daughter
BRADYS BEND — Judy Nichol's house is full of memories of her mother.
“The most precious thing she gave me was a home for the rest of my life,” said Nichol, 68, who inherited the concrete block house in Bradys Bend.
The home is all the more meaningful for Nichol, whose parents Margaret and Jesse built the house themselves.
The family previously lived in a small three-room house, but the couple wanted more for their family.
They spent three years building the house before moving in with their two children in 1953.
“They worked so hard, my mother worked just as hard as (my dad) did,” remembered Nichol. “My dad laid the blocks and she would carry them, she had to do a lot of lifting.”
When 10-year-old Judy saw the finished product, she was amazed that the new, two-story, seven-room house belonged to them.
“When I moved over here, I had never slept in a bedroom by myself,” she said.
Her mother was just 16 when she married and soon had two children, Nichol and her brother Herbert “Skip” Nichol of Karns City.
“I know life must have really been a struggle, but they made it,” said Nichol.
Her mother must have had her hands full, taking care of a family and running a household without modern conveniences like a washing machine, Nichol said.
Still, she remembers her mother as lively and energetic, always willing to spend time with her children.
“She used to go outside and play with us,” she said. “It was nice to have a young mother. She paid attention to us.”
Nichol's father died in 1970, and she lived in the house with her mother for the rest of her years.
Margaret Nichol died March 8, but the house is a priceless way for her daughter to remember her.
“She passed on a home for me,” said Nichol. “I feel safe here.”
