Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Leaving our Home

It’s been over a week since we sold and moved out of our house. This was a huge project for us, as it involved finishing some projects, replacing carpet and countertops, re-painting all of the kitchen cabinetry, etc. It sold fast; we got two offers only 5 days after we put it on the market, and we basically got our asking price. People were shocked, but we weren’t; we priced it to sell, and we had it looking super sharp.

People kept saying to us, “It looks so great, you’re not going to want to leave,” but this is what we want to do. However, when it came to actually leaving, it was incredibly hard. Not because of the new carpet or kitchen, but because we loved living there, and have some great memories. Our kids all went to the elementary school across the street. We had a lot of good events there, for holidays and birthdays. We had our exchange student, and now dear friend, Emily, live with us there for a year. We cooked a lot of great meals there for friends and family. There are just so many good memories for us that involve that house, and we felt really at home there.

When we left, it was heart-wrenching, and we stood in the entry, hugging each other and crying. It was physically hard to walk out the door and leave it behind. So the funny thing is, all of us are feeling relief now that that part is over. In fact, after so much time spent working on and thinking about that house, Don and I are enjoying the freedom of not worrying about it. Our daughter, Emma, just told us today, that she likes living here, where we are now. And our son, John, said, “Everyone is nicer to each other since we’ve moved.” After all those months of preparation, we’re spending a lot of time together, enjoying each other’s company, and we don’t have many responsibilities right now.

So, I guess this is our vacation, from home-ownership, from working on our big move, from our jobs, from everything we had. And right now, it feels pretty good.

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