I Will Remember You

Bear with me, friends. I'm sitting here in my tiny living room watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, surrounded by boxes and packing material and the general discombobulation that accompanies any move. I'm feeling quite wistful and nostalgic. I actually cried a little bit while I was packing yesterday.

I came into this house a fiancée, not yet a college graduate, and my dad had to co-sign with me. It was just me, my soon-to-be-hubs, my cat and my stepson a couple times a week when we moved here. My stepson was 3. He is now 13. We leave as a family of 5. I brought both my babies home from the hospital to this place. They are now 5.5 & 3. They all learned to ride bikes on the bike path that runs parallel with our back yard.

We are really going to miss that bike path. Not long after we moved in here, we got our first dog together - a chocolate lab puppy we called Bettis (the hubs is a Steelers guy). He had to be put down in Jan of this year after an aggressive bone cancer, but before that he was walked every single day rain or shine on that bike path. And that's how we got a 2nd dog - who we still have - she followed them home from a walk one day and never left. The animals are starting to clue in that something major is about to transpire and they are a little out of sorts. I hope the transition isn't too hard on them. Especially the cat. I haven't made a move without my cat since I was 19 years old - I'm 36 now, so he's no young thing.

I'm ready to move on. We all are. We outgrew this place 1 kid ago at least:) There's only one bathroom and its really small. And there's no dishwasher. And the washer and dryer are in the kitchen. But what a great place to start our life together. I don't know much about the people who are buying from us, but this time next week they will be here, starting their own time in this space. I hope fortune smiles on this home for them the way it has for us. I'm thrilled about this next phase in our lives, but I will always have much, much love for this little ranch home that has housed me and my family for so long.

And as an aside, no one believes me when I tell them that our Ravenna will be the first time I have ever lived anywhere with steps. Really! Both homes I lived in growing up were ranches, too. Even the apartments I had were on the first floor. Never had a basement either. It's going to be an adjustment for Miss Emily, people!