The dogs have gone to bed with their usual cookies – they have been a little confused with the action in here of late but they’ve coped with it in dog fashion, a couple of treats and all is well with the world. The same cannot be said for me.
I am tucking myself into bed for the last time in the house I’ve called home for over thirty one years. This is the house our children grew up in, the house that set them loose on the world. Those kids are falling asleep tonight in a future only dreamt about when they walked through this front door all those years ago.
I’m trying not to be maudlin, trying to focus on what lies ahead – the changes, the potential – there is a ton of stuff to look forward to and yet….
The girls bedrooms are set for their sleep tomorrow night, a lot of effort has gone into making them feel at home on their first night away from the home they’ve known for all their lives. This move is tough on them too even amid the promise of a big yard and a safe street, even within eyeshot of the cherished apple tree. Change is never easy.
I couldn’t open the doors to those refreshed bedrooms tonight, instead I found myself imagining them they way they used to be – not they way they were a month ago, but how they were in the beginning, way back in the day when our little kids felt the same angst as my granddaughters do today leaving the home they’d known all their lives.
This is a welcoming house, the little girls will settle in quickly. It won’t be long before they take ownership of Gramma’s house. They will move into the realm of memories already painted into these walls – the whole kit and kaboodle, the laughter and tears, the hopes and dreams. The girls are inheriting a mothelode of history, they will be fine.
I find myself wanting to listen to the walls in the quiet tonight, close my eyes and relive the years, but there aren’t enough minutes in the night to remember it all. I have loved this house, loved the life we lived and the memories we made beneath this roof – I will miss it. Tonight is my last night at home, I am off to the next chapter, off to face the future. I have to remember I am full of the same history the girls are inheriting – and I will be fine as well.
Comments (2)
Hi Elva, thinking of you today as you move into your new home. Ami correct in thinking that one of your children and family are moving into your family home? If so, you are blessed in knowing many of the precious memories made over the years will be remembered and will be added to in the years to come. I trust this will make a difficult move a little easier. Sheila
Sheila — yes, my daughter and her family have bought the house – it does make the move easier to cope with. I don’t move into my new digs until the 16th so will be staying with my other daughter &her husband until then — the kids are moving in here today… it’s a bit chaotic right now but I think once the dust settles everything will be fine.