Tonight is the last night we’ll be together as a family in this home. Tomorrow we will embark upon new memories in our new home. We’re all very excited and more than ready and know that all the preparations we’ve made for this day will make it a smooth transition for us all.
I’ve set aside all the necessary manuals, keys, garage door openers (had to buy two new ones because the ones we’ve used for the last 10 years were taped together and missing buttons) and a little note to the new family explaining the chips in the kitchen counter tile (sonic boom from a low fly by - china fell onto the countertop), telling them about the weekend we planted the bushes in the backyard, and to watch out for the wasp that lives in the hole by the front door.
I know it’s just a house and that a home is where your family is. I get that. But this home is where our children grew up and will probably be the home they will recall when they think of their childhood home. It’s where we had cowboy, Elmo, Olympics, Winter Wonderland, and Book Donation birthday parties. It’s where our oldest broke his collarbone and where our youngest recovered from surgery. It’s where Nerf gun wars were played in the dark and Christmas cards were made at the dining room table. It’s where homemade Halloween costumes were made and where my husband and I challenged each other at Solitaire each evening in bed. And, it’s where our cats rotated naptime according to the positioning of the sunbeams on the floor.
I’ve taken at least 6000 photos in this house and will always have those memories. It is tonight that I will remember all those times as I fall asleep and look forward to new memories that have yet to be made. Tomorrow we will trade in our old keys for new keys and as we turn the key in the lock of our new front door, I will smile.
