HOME

Lying in bed last night, when I was supposed to be sleeping, I was thinking about the blog my daughter Becky wrote.  Illustrated with photographs, she wrote about all the things in our house and yard that held fond memories for her.  She has already relocated to Florida with her family, while we remain behind to sell our home of 31 years, in the hope of relocating there ourselves, so she’s had a bit more time to contemplate the leaving side of things.

But now the work is done for us and we have put out the “for sale” sign.  We are selling a house, but this house has been so much more than a dwelling to us, this has been our home. 

We moved here when our girls were just turning four and six.  This is where they grew up.  In our yard they swung on the tire swing their grandpa had tied to a long tree branch.  They climbed our trees and, much to the dismay of our neighbors, our lilac bushes.  They cooled off in the plastic kiddie pool, played “tour guide” in the yard, explored what used to be a vacant woodland behind the house.  

At one time or another they spent time in just about every school playground in town.  They swam in the local swimming hole every summer day.  They made weekly trips to the library and participated in the summer reading program every year.  On our quiet cul-de-sac they’ve ridden bikes, played ball and badminton, thrown water balloons, had lemonade stands. 

On the 4^th of July we brought our breakfast to the swimming lake in town and ate while we watched the parade go by.  At Halloween, the girls went trick or treating and enjoyed especially nice treats from the neighbors.  At Christmas we caroled, and made loaves of bread to give as gifts.  We celebrated birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays – even April Fool’s Day!  We held open houses and invited all the neighbors. 

Our neighborhood has been a great one in which to live.  Some of our neighbors have lived here longer than we have and they have provided stability and a neighborliness it’s not so easy to find these days.  We have shared house keys, collected mail, fed and walked pets, helped plow snow, dig out a snowed in car, clean up after hurricanes, and generally kept an eye on things for one another.  Whenever Jim went outside on a short errand and disappeared for AGES, I knew I would find him in conversation with the guy next door.  

Since we have lived here we have been affiliated with three different churches.  Each one has been a blessing in its own right.  We have sat under awesome Bible teaching, given our children a good spiritual foundation, participated in Vacation Bible Schools, and Sunday school, and served the Lord in various capacities.  And we made many friends, brothers and sisters in Christ we run into all over the place from those three congregations.  What a blessing, and a little taste of heaven!

We have enjoyed wonderful memories here, and some not so wonderful memories as well, but they all contributed to making us the people, and the family that we are today.  This has been home, and it has been a good one at that. 

I am thankful for each and every one of these 31 years.