The Molnar family home is seen here before its demolition. The home was over 100 years old, while the barn was built in the 1940s. (Photos provided/MICHELE GORDON)

Michele Gordon had driven to and past the Molnar family home her entire life.

She had become accustomed to using her grandparents’ former home for navigation on her way to her own house.

Last year the surviving members of the family sold the farm located on the corner of Elkhart Road and May Street near Edwardsburg.

This year, the house, which was over 100 years old and the barn, built in the 1940s, as well as other outbuildings were torn down and removed, leaving only a piece of vacant land.

Gordon wrote the following on her Facebook page describing how she felt:

“Today I happened on something that I knew was coming but I also knew I wouldn’t be ready for it. I was on my way to meet Meghan-Margret (daughter) at Annika’s school so we could all have lunch together. As I approached the corner I realized that there were dozers tearing down the farmhouse.

“My first thought was to keep going, but I of course had to pull over and stop to watch. As the machinery dug into the roofing, causing the walls to buckle and windows to shatter, I was frozen in place, staring at the rubble while tears streamed down my cheeks.

“Then just for a moment I could hear laughter, I saw children sitting under a large tree munching on fresh green beans and cucumbers, I smelled the tantalizing aroma of ham, turkey and gravy that sat warming on the back burner of the stove, I felt the chill of the breezeway that was lined with boxes of kiefles and Texas bon-bons. That old house was a place to play and imagine. It was a place to gather for birthdays, Thanksgiving and Christmas; where, if you were lucky you were gifted with a handmade dress or nightgown.

“I closed my eyes and relived the thing I think I missed the most, hugging my grandma because that was just like leaning into a fresh, soft marshmallow. I finally turned around, got back into my car and drove away. The house, the barn, the buildings will soon all be a memory but all the wonderful people who inhabited that old house will stay in my heart and in the hearts of all those who loved them.”