We are moving in about 72 hours. I am excited about our new digs. The school system is great, rent is cheaper, the house is smaller. In a quiet moment, I started to reflect on all the goodness this house holds for us. First day of school, cribs turning into big boy beds, learning how to ride a two wheeler, losing teeth, cutting teeth, first birthday, first steps, first 100 on a spelling test. I am not one to be sentimental about a place. Its just four walls. But I will in this moment remember the great times at this house. Our fire pit where friendships strengthened and even broke apart never to be fixed. Where stories, tears, laughter, stresses, joys were shared over toasted marshmallows and spirits. An extra room for my big brother to sleep in when he visited. A world of exploration in our backyard. Yellow spotted salamanders, tree frogs, snakes, birds, coyotes, the groundhog who loved our garden. Mama snapping turtle laid her egg two years in a row and my husband lovingly brought her offspring to the wetland out back. The winter wonderland that provided snow forts and great sledding. Our summer of the intex pool that all the neighborhood kids loved. Our neighbor Sam who always has an ice cream for you even if it is 10am. In these four walls we have fought together, loved together, broke bread together, held each other, pushed each other away. How quickly three years has gone. How full those three years have been. New jobs coming, old jobs going. A broken window, baseboards chewed by the new pup, a rock in the basement that stretched from one side to the other. A kitchen with the best dance floor I could ask for. Now its time to pack it all away and start again. Change is good. Keep us on our toes.
