So here it is.
We listed our house shortly after Cinco de Mayo. Some people remember when events occur based on oh, say, the birth of a child. Nope, I remember dates based on margaritas.
We put our house on the market and the first people to see the house made an offer on it. We went back and forth and back and forth with counter offers until we finally settled on an unsettling thing: we were selling our house at a huge loss. The price we agreed upon was fair, based on what other houses in our neighborhood are selling for, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Feeling like selling the house with a big loss in every way, I walked through our under-contract-house. And I looked out the windows at the squirrels in the back yard that torment Echo every day. If you had asked me a day earlier, I would have said that those squirrels drove me crazy. And the small backyard drove me crazy. The kitchen wasn’t big enough and the school district that we are in isn’t good enough. But now, looking through a different lens, I smiled at those squirrels. After all, they were “our” squirrels. And I started to reminisce about what this house has given us.
We moved into our house a year or so after we were married. No kids, just our sweet little girl, Echo. We have gone through the trials and tribulations of IVF and were thrilled to be able to bring home our two beautiful kids to this house. It’s the place where “Margarentals” was born and “Make Your Mark”. It’s the house where Connor hit his head on the wall and we rushed him to Childrens Hospital for stitches. It’s the house where we had a major water pipe burst in our front yard the day we brought Connor home from the hospital. We’ve had countless fun adventures with our neighborhood friends and have seen everyone change as their families grew. I remember months of “bed rest” when I was pregnant with Blake. I memorized every nook and cranny in the ceiling in our room. I remember Dennis’ 30th birthday and the “White Trash Birthday Bash” that was so much fun. (By the way, we never figured out who peed on the floor in our office during the party?)
Now, seven years later, the house feels like it’s busting at the seams. I’ve felt stressed at the busting-ness of the house but now, in this moment, I feel a sense of appreciation for what this house has given us. And how it has tolerated us and our sometimes crazy antics. So I’m learning that it isn’t what we’re leaving or what we’re giving up but rather it is a focus on what we now have and where are going, together, as a family. There’s really nothing wrong with the squirrels on the fence or the size of our yard. The kitchen is a fine size and it’s absolutely perfect for us pre-kids. It’s the perfect house for another couple and I hope that it brings them as much joy and happiness as we have had while we lived here.
We’re moving on and moving forward. We’re not really leaving anything behind but rather, we are taking a lot of treasured memories and great friendships with us.
