This is my story.

I’m Laura, the photographer, adventurer, researcher, and story teller behind the grass roots preservation project known as Diary of Abandonment. Since 2015, I’ve photographed over 900 abandoned homes, interviewed dozens of property owners, and shared and structures in rural America, research their genealogical history, and share stories of the families that built and loved them, in an effort to preserve our ancestral history.

I’m also an artist, Veteran caregiver, blogger, and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. I’m an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, an avid trail runner, kayaker, and Grandmother of five!

Born in Destruction

My love for old homes emerged almost 40 years ago in the wake of a destructive tornado. During the summer of 1986, Hurricane Bonnie made landfall in Texas and a tornado that spun from it tore through our apartment complex in Beaumont. Rain pounded sideways, lifting off roofs from buildings and flipping car hoods across the parking lot like tumbleweeds. My family and I watched the mayhem unfold through the windows, and I couldn’t help but be captivated by the chaos of it all.

While our apartment was undamaged, many nearby residents weren’t as fortunate. Our complex was declared condemned, turning it into a quiet ghost town overnight. The swimming pool, playground, and field where we played kickball with our friends were suddenly void of life, a stark contrast to just days before.

Intrigued by the abrupt abandonment, my sister and I explored the deserted buildings and spent hours rummaging through apartments, our shoes soaked by soggy carpet and our ankles bitten by fleas. Despite the less than safe play places we found ourselves in, I was drawn to the excitement of discovering belongings left behind and wondering where everyone went, igniting a curiosity in me that would last a lifetime.

Life, Interrupted

By my late thirties, addiction and severe depression had taken hold of me due to the difficult parts of life. I desperately wanted to be free of both, but they had a stranglehold on me. On a quest for peace, I immersed myself in the quietude of back roads, searching for abandoned houses as a means to find clarity amidst life’s chaos. Their brokeness resonated with me.

Around that same time, both my hobby of abandoned photography and addiction took a turn for the better (and momentarily worse), when I met a man named Mr. Nanney.

Breaking Free

He was the first door I ever knocked on and the first property owner to share with me the story of his family’s homeplace. He was a bit of a hermit, but welcomed me into his home and we talked like old friends. When I left that day, enthralled with his stories, I promised I’d be back to hear more. However, he passed away just a few weeks later, and I was saddened by the realization that he would no longer be able to share more stories with me. It was then I realized the significance of being the last person he shared his love story of he and his wife with, and felt compelled to write it down.

Not long after our paths crossed, I was overwhelmed by depression and addiction. One night, I found myself on life support from a near fatal overdose. The ER doctors told my family they didn’t know if I’d make it. But less than 24 hours later after being admitted in critical condition, I suddenly woke up and all of my vitals, blood work, and organs were firing flawlessly on all eight cylinders.

When I got home from the hospital, something occurred that let me know without a doubt that God had intervened and performed nothing short of a miracle. Although I wasn’t sure of much at the time, one thing was for certain…my time wasn’t over yet. I had work to do and a story to tell.

The Power of Stories

The impactful encounter with the likes of Mr. Nanney, coupled with my newfound appreciation for life, strengthened my resolve to not only find sobriety, but to knock on more doors, connect with more people, and uncover more stories hidden in lonely people and old homeplaces.

Today, I’m seven years sober, healthy, and actively seek the good things life has to offer. My Diary of Abandonment adventures have allowed me to befriend countless strangers, listened to and recorded heartwarming stories, documented hundreds of historic buildings. It’s through this project that I met Mr. Pope, a Vietnam Veteran, whom I became a caregiver for, and Mr. Pendleton, a 101-year-old WW2 Veteran, who I became a genealogist for. Studying Mr. Pendleton’s history allowed me to make a very special, history-in-the-making connection between him and a missing Tuskegee Airmen that was recently identified and brought back home and interred in NC. The adventures (and stories) never seem to end, each one leading to the next and the next!

HomePlaced

I launched Diary of Abandonment in order to have a permanent home for all of the stories I’ve written, as well as my photography of the beautiful farm homes I’ve documented over the years. Most importantly, it’s a place where I hope to connect strangers and introduce them to people in our communities whose families contributed to our country’s history.

Along with my website and social media presence, I’m currently in the “Patent Pending” process of a business model I’ve created to help further my endeavors in the preservation of old homes. Similar to the popular website Find a Grave, it will be called ‘HomePlaced’ and will help document the location of abandoned and historic homes, with the ability to link them to their appropriate families on ancestry websites.

With so many of these homes no longer standing due to neglect, nature, vandalism, and arson, we’re losing a critical part of our ancestral history. The homes our forefathers built are as important as the stories that were written within their four walls by the hands that crafted them.

I’m so thankful to have found my purpose in preserving history, serving my neighbors, and connecting strangers through the power of stories. Thank you for being a part of this journey, it sure has been a rewarding one.