The End of an Era is Coming Soon

An ending is coming soon for me, and as a result, I've been thinking about things from a different perspective. I have been very blessed these last ten years. I have had the best of everything, the best neighbors ever, the best job ever, and the best house ever. Recently I've been thinking about our house. I've never loved any house I've ever lived in before. I've lived many places, had many nice and modest homes, and worked on making all of them better, but until this house, our do-it-yourself kit house from 1915, I had never really loved and gotten attached to a house. I've been on-line looking at houses, and I just don't care for most of the houses I see out there. I remember when we moved into our house, it was a mess of hideous decorating choices and major repairs to be done, yet over the past ten years, we have tackled every project. I think that might be part of why I love our house so much, because we re-did every room in the house. It truly is a reflection of everything that matters to us, in making this house a home. The best compliment I ever got on our house was from a friend who house sat for us while we were out of the country a few years back. She said initially she was worried about house sitting for us, because old houses gave her the creeps. She said she woke up in the middle of the night while house sitting, got up to go to the bathroom, hesitated in the hall, listened for any creepy house sounds, and just felt this sense of peace. She said it was like the house gave her a warm hug. She felt completely at ease. Other people who have stayed with us have mentioned that too, that the house felt happy, peaceful, even when they were alone in it. I wonder if houses have feelings or can project the feelings of the lives that have lived in it. I hope we find the perfect family to live in our house, people who will continue to improve it and love it.

So, yes, we will be moving, this summer. M accepted a job in Buffalo, New York. It means massive changes for us. Both of us will be in new jobs, hunting for a new house, learning a new city, finding new doctors, a veterinarian, pet care for while we're at work, finding new friends. This might prove to be very traumatic, I mean, we are older, set in our ways, but we're going into this with high hopes and lots of energy. The thing about this move that is wonderful for me, is that I'm from New York state, and I will now be a 2 1/2 hour drive from my sister. Another hope, dear neighbors of ours here, are from Toronto, and I'm hoping on their many trips back and forth from Toronto, that they'll stop in for a visit. I worry about our dog and his girlfriend across the street, they are very bonded, I worry about how the move will affect him and not getting to see her anymore. Dogs have feelings too. It's sad to think of moving away from all the friends we made here, but I know from experience, yes, there will people we will never see again, but the truly good friends, will make an effort to come see us, and we will come back down here, but it won't be the same as having them in our lives daily. We thought about this move long and hard. Were we truly happy here, in our careers, could we be happy staying here permanently? The answer was yes and no. Yes we were happy and if nothing changed, we could be satisfied, but also, we wanted more, new challenges, a chance for career advancement, that only moving out of our comfort zone could provide. So when we started to explore the possibilities, we knew it had to be a perfect job in the perfect place, with the right money, or it wouldn't be worth leaving what we already had. M was in the running for a couple jobs, but when we looked closely at the areas, and our possible quality of life and professional development, Buffalo was the obvious choice. So M accepted today, she should have the written contract in a couple of days, then the announcement will be made campus wide, I suppose. Until then, mum is the word. I'll post more as things progress. We'll have to fly or drive up there to look at houses. I have to search for a new job. The university where M will be working is going to help me find something. We also have to consider M's parents who at some point will be coming to live with us. I think they may stay here for part of the year and with us part of the year until such time they can't live on their own any longer. So much change coming, I dread the thought of having another yard sale to clear the basement and garage, and down-sizing what we want to move with us and what we want to leave behind. The thought of leaving things, people, behind is really pulling at my heart strings. With this move, I will be leaving my children behind. Every move I've ever made since the day they were born, they were with me. I know this is part of growing up, and B has been in Taiwan since last September and somehow I survived. I won't be going to the ends of the earth. I will be a nine hour drive from them, but the thought that I cannot be a part of their daily lives, them coming home for dinner, to do laundry, etc., is a hard thing to deal with, so I might do another post later on mom leaving the nest and what all that entails. This house is the house they grew up in and spent the most time of their lives in. It might be hard for them to know they will never again come home to this house. I remember that was a weird feeling for me, when my mother sold our childhood home. Oh well, I'm feeling maudlin, so I'll stop. Wish us luck.