Driving past the home you grew up in is an emotional experience. Looking at it from a distance, memories start to flood in, and for Navy veteran Kenny, 83, a recent drive-by of the home he helped his dad build in the 1950s brought back a treasure trove of heartfelt stories.
Kenny (@patriotickenny), with the help and support of his close friends, drove past the home that he helped build brick-by-brick with his father while he was in high school. He shared memories of his dad and mom, and how the house was a labor of love and the American Dream.
“This house build was so special,” they captioned the post. In it, Kenny is sitting in the backseat of a car as he is driven past the home, and his reaction is captured in the emotional video.
Kenny’s friend Amanda is driving, and he excitedly tells her, “Keep going! See that big white house down there with the porch? Right there! There it is!” After Amanda asks if his dad really built it, he responds, “Yes he did! It’s still identical to this day the way he built it.” After saying how nice it looks, Kenny becomes emotional and adds, “I miss that place.”
He goes on to share more details of how the house was built with his help, explaining that they laid all the brick and how they salvaged the bricks from Fort Snelling. “We went over there with his pickup and hauled them a load at a time,” he says. Kenny adds that construction began in 1955, about the same time he entered the service in high school. “I helped him a lot.”
Kenny also details how his mom put her touches on the home. “Around the whole front my mother had it solid with peonies. Solid. She planted it all the time, peonies and geraniums on the side,” he explains as his voice cracks and holds back tears.
Kenny also helped build another home with his dad, which was captured in another video shared on his page. Kenny explains that this home was actually ordered from a catalogue then built together in the late 1970s.
“Yeah, that’s it!” he says as he claps his and with excitement. “Oh it’s junk now but he’s got a flag. And the deck is still on!” he says about the home on 10 acres of land. “Me and my dad started all the framework there…my dad he always helped me. We helped each other.” Kenny also shares that he fenced the property for their horses with boards, which still stand.
In 2021, Kenny met his friends and neighbors Jenny and Amanda, along with Jenny’s dad Jerry. Ever since, they have called themselves “The Crew” and began creating videos together showing Kenny’s life and experiences as a veteran. Kenny began the Patriotic Kenny Foundation to help raise funds for mobility scooters for disabled veterans after he was blessed by his own from generous donors.
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Since then, his videos have continued to bring joy to his viewers. Many were moved by his genuine emotion after visiting the home built with his father:
“So sweet. The admiration for his parents. He’s like a little kid talking about them, getting emotional 🥹,” one wrote.
“He’s so precious. I wish I could give him a big hug. I love that he was able to go back and see so much and his contribution to it,” said another.
“I love hearing his stories. It is a very nice house. I know he’s proud to have helped his dad and learned so much from him,” gushed someone else.