After 21 years and 5 months we are moving. We moved into this home the day after Thanksgiving day in 1998. It has been a good place to raise a family. The family is all gone now and we are "downsizing". I have wanted to do this for several years but it took a while to get Bud on board. He is finally on board. We found a 3 bed 2 1/2 bath town home with no yard. We will love that, the grand dogs, not so much. As I have packed things away and spent time in each of the rooms that I very seldom wander into, I have realized that there are have been a lot of memories made here in this home. We have sat on the stairs once a year, kicking and screaming usually, to take the dreaded family photo. We will do that one last time before we move out next week. We raised several lizards and birds in this home. Some of them will stay with this home in the "cemetery" in the back yard or across the street in the green belt. When we first moved here, my mother-in-law, Grandma Betty lived with us. I didn't always appreciate her until she was gone. She was a wonderful Grandma. She was the geography/history queen. When the kid's had questions about either of those subjects, they went right downstairs to Grandma. She used to make Ritz crackers with ham and peanut butter (I know, right? It sounds awful), the kids loved them. Kami would go downstairs and Grandma Betty would let her take the food out of her cupboards and they would play store. The things that you avoid as a parent, become treasured memories as a grandma. When your kids are growing up, you worry about the messes, when you are a grandma, you live for those visits and messes. You realize how short and quickly time passes. Kami had several parakeets in this house. She loved birds. I honestly can't remember how many birds and lizards we have had over the years. Good memories in this home. There were some not so good memories here also. I remember one night calling, trying to find Kami and waiting in the living room, looking out the window, praying that she would come home safely. She eventually did. She wasn't in the best condition, but she came home. I remember fights, playing cards, cleaning, dancing, fixing hair, rearranging her room, getting ready for school dances, friends, lots of friends. One memory that I really loved was feeding the kid's soccer teams. They would have dinner together the night before a game. One time, there was a girl on Kami's team that came over and she was petrified of birds. She literally hid under the table. By the end of the night, Kami had the bird sitting on this girl's shoulder.
I know where we are moving, we will make memories. It will be nice to be in a smaller home and I have realized as we have given so much away, preparing for this move. It is just stuff. The memories can't be taken away. We will move to our new home, build new memories, and buy more stuff.
I will put Kami's picture back up and know that she will be there in spirit. I wish she could be on the stairs for that one last picture. I miss my baby girl.
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