Signing it away!

I just finishing signing and/or initialing about 20 pages which, in effect, transfers my house to the new Buyers.  Being Lila and always full of thoughts and analyses, I am sitting here writing this to sort through what I anticipated to be a rush of emotions.  And they’re in there. But I think the sorting is either mostly done or more to come at some later date/time!

28 years here and was able to sign it away in less than 28 pages! It was so easy. And now I have to REALLY pack! I think it is a good thing for me to do and something I’ve dreaded!  Maybe no one should stay in one place for 28 years!

Many of the memories are already packed away and long gone. The big dog house that Lucy loved and sat on top of with a 2 and 3 year old Michael and Kenny. The Little Tikes ride on train and full set of figure 8 tracks that our kids and so many others rode on the nice big piece of cement along the side of the garage. The plant and grow your own pumpkins we did with our kids and others. The father/son pumpkin carving parties at the end of soccer season for several years. Many many 4th of July parties filled with family and friends making giant chalk drawings of fireworks and festivities on the top apron of our huge asphalt driveway. And let’s not forget the annual crafts at these events: puff painting, sand art, coffee can rolling ice cream making, bookmarks made from rubber stamps the kids built out of old tire tubes, and, of course, Tie Dying….years and years of that!  We played volleyball, badminton, horseshoes, city shoes, croquet, bacce balls, corn hole and built puzzles (even 3D puzzles…does anyone remember that head built out of cardboard discs that someone adorned with a cigarette?!!).

The patio…such a wonderful place to sit and entertain or visit or just hang out.  So much time spent out there.  Such a big covered patio…bigger than any single room in my entire house!  I remember sitting there during parties that, in any other place, would have been completely rained out; but we were all safe and protected under the covering. My nephew Adam gave us big movie posters (Gone Fishin’) which were strategically hung to cover up unrepaired flaws in the house (like the window that was covered when we remodeled the bathroom, but had never been removed from the outside yet!).  We had a swing set and slide that the kids loved using waxed paper on to make it good and slippery! a Frog shaped sandbox, and several kiddie pools over the years.  Will anyone ever forget the myriad of patio lights???!!!!

This house, and yard, and patio and garage was LIVED IN….Definitely lived in. My sister was married here. So so so many happy times. Some things didn’t survive this house…like in life itself. People and pets who lived or visited or stayed or shared time here are gone now. So, like I said before, those memories have been packed up and moved on long ago. And 7 years ago when I re-bought the place on my own, it was cathartic and important. I was not ready to say goodbye yet. I needed to do things in my own time and my own way. And I’m glad I did. Because I was able, with the help of many unnamed friends and family members, to effect a lot of positive improvement in this place.  I was able to love this house in my own way and define my feelings and history so that I could move on with a healthy and bright and hopeful future.

And what I pack up and take, whether in physical form or in my memories, is by my choice!