Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to our old house was, and still is, really sad for me.  It took me until now to be able to write this because every time I thought about it, I just teared up.  In the spirit of complete honesty (remember, I'm writing this blog as a way for us to remember this time, even the stuff that's not so fun), writing this is still bringing me to tears.

The last day we had our house, we toured the rooms with the kids, reminiscing and telling stories about each room.  We took lots of photos and even let the kids take some so they could show us what they thought was important about the old house.  Here you go--the old house through the kids eyes!

TV stand

Fireplace.  We did read lots and lots of books here in the winter!

A doorknob? Who know why this is important?!

Carpet.  This particular room is the office.

Stripes in the main level bathroom.

Of course, Marea thought her own reflection in the dirty mirror was worth remembering!

Stairs

The sandbox.  This does hold many fond memories for all of us.

Another doorknob.

And a lock on a window?!? Now the kids were just being silly!

The front door

Marea told me to pose in the old house, thus the silly hand-on-hip position

A wall.

And lastly, more stairs.

Alright, so the kids photos are a little, well, kiddish but it's so sweet to see their point of view.  Here's  the adult side of things.

The pantry door where we've recorded the kids heights each year on their birthday.

The kids standing by the door.  We've got a mark for every year we've lived here.  Since we couldn't take the door with us, we got a new board and marked their heights on that. I have a project up my sleeve for the board once we move into the new house.

The dining/family room area.  We spent so much time here.

Front door and entry.

Reverse view of family room/dining/kitchen.

The deck. Man, I loved the deck.  I am seriously missing having one now.

Our bedroom.

Evan is his old room.

Marea's old room

My favorite tree.  An Ash--when we first planted it, the tree was about half this size.

Our small but lovely garden.

Basement rec room.

The kids showing how they feel about moving.

Waving goodbye from the front stoop

My beloved deck.  Miss sitting out here so much.

Picking the last goodies we'll ever get from this garden--plenty of cucumbers!

M by Evan's sunflowers

The swingset. Sad to leave this, although it wasn't used tons.

The view of the park from the side of the house--great view!

Evan's bball hoop. He is desperately missing this.

About 3 weeks after we said goodbye to all these beloved  places and spaces, the kids and I drove past the old house.  As we neared the house, Marea told me her heart was sinking.  And then she told me this. "Mom, I feel like a log.  Like something is chopping me down from inside.  And I'm slowly falling until there's nothing left but the outlining."  Um, wow--pretty profound for someone who's six!  That pretty much sums up how I feel about the old house, too. 

While I know my heart will always hold some sadness over leaving this house and all it has meant for our family,  I'm hopeful that as the new house progresses, our excitement will build and the sadness  will fade to simply happy memories.