I cannot believe how I reacted to the announcement on the Country Home wrapper that this is the last issue of one of or,lately, my favorite magazine. I started subscribing to Country Home® when I was newly married and really just discovering my decorating style. I was one of those who started with "early American", but never liked the ruffled lamp shades and the rooster lamp bases. I wanted a more simple, yet warm, look. Then through a friend or a few friends, I discovered "primitives", and they became my passion. When we had a child old enough to babysit for a few hours on a Saturday, my husband and I would go to breakfast and then haunt the antique stores — he for good books (he's a writer, www.johngile.com ) and me for a few primitive pieces of furniture and accessories which went with them. The primitives were so practical for us, because we had several children, and it didn't matter if something got nicked up a bit. And back then, they were not very expensive.
Lately, as Country Living® seems to have gotten more high end and contemporary, Country Home® has gone to a simpler, cleaner look while still featuring the primitive and painted furniture I love. I lay down with the magazine yesterday, as I love to do when I get one of my decorating magazines in the mail, and felt how thin it was, and how so few ads there were, and realized more than any time prior, how the economy has affected us. I was describing my reaction to my husband, and I got tears in my eyes. Who would have thought a magazine could evoke such emotion? It symbolized our home, our family, our times alone together, and the welcome reprieve from the daily struggles and commitments of our lives. Country Home® I mourn your passing.
