In August 2012, we bought our first house. And slowly but surely, we made that house into a home. We filled it to the brim with love and laughter. We added our son, our dog, and our daughter completed our family a few years later.
There are beautiful memories throughout this house. My husband asked me to marry him upstairs in our closet. If I close my eyes, I can see the sweat beading across his forehead. When I went into labor with my son, I can picture myself walking around and timing my contractions. I can see my son as a baby, crawling around. I can see our dog as a puppy taking a long afternoon nap. When I look at our backyard, I can see my son and his cousins running around and playing with water guns, and running on the slip and slide. I can see the smoke from my husband’s grill and smell a delicious dinner. When I hear the doorbell, I think of the first time my son’s future best friend rang and asked, “Can Preston play?”. I remember painting my daughter’s room and feeling the excitement that permeated the air as we anxiously awaited her arrival. We’ll be moving in a few months, and while I’m excited, I can’t help but feel some sadness about leaving our house. I’m excited because we’re building our forever home, but I’m a nostalgic person, and leaving our home isn’t as easy as I thought.
My husband is the opposite of me. He’s been ready to leave for at least three years. After being in quarantine last year, I realized too that we needed to move. The kids will only get bigger, and having more room would be needed for the future. At the top of my list for must-haves was that my son had to attend the same school. He loves his school, and after doing virtual school all last school year, I couldn’t imagine telling him that he would have to go to a new school with new teachers and making new friends. I knew if we found something outside of his school, he’d adjust, but if I didn’t have to put him through that, I wasn’t. Luckily, we found a neighborhood zoned for his school, and we found a house plan that met all the other requirements, the biggest being a basement for my husband, and I needed my own office.
I was afraid my 8-year-old would be sad about moving. He’s pretty nostalgic, like his mama. But, we talked with him about it early on in the process to get him used to moving. His best friend lives maybe 50 steps away, so he wasn’t thrilled about them not being able to play every day. Promises that he could decorate his new room as wanted (within reason) and best friend sleepovers put him at ease. We’re all excited to watch the construction of our new house and start our new adventure. I hope the new family that buys our home can feel all the love we put into it.
