This post comes to you a little later than usual because yesterday we moved into our new home just north of Cobourg, Ontario. Out in the country and a very different proposition from our old place deep in the city of Toronto. I’m still surrounded by packing boxes and I don’t think the reality has sunk in yet, but it’s an exciting time.
Bill’s photo this week spoke to those emotions, so while this story is fictional, it’s heavily inspired by circumstance.
Our first house was a dream buy. The owner’s unexpected demise made it cheap and we could fix all the old-fashioned décor over time.
Except time never seemed to come.
Now as we stand on the threshold, saying goodbye, I’ll miss those curtains I stared at through a million late-night feeds, that rug where our dear departed Rusty curled up every morning after his walk, the wallpapered pillar with lines showing dates and heights. I’ll even miss the avocado bathroom we swore would be the first thing to go. I guess puke colour is fitting given the things it endured.
elmowrites 
Awww lovely nostalgic story.
Congratulations on the house move.
I specially liked the avocado bathroom detail
Moving is tough. Nice story.
Congratulations – tough to leave behind those material things, it can be such a stressful time, but the memories will move with you, and soon you’ll be making new ones – once the boxes are unpacked!
A poignant piece indeed. Your mention of the avocado bathroom took my mind back too.
Hey Congrats on your new house!! It will be great!
Moving is hard. You’ll miss the old house and revel in the new one.
Moving is such a time. It’s why we’d said after each move, “never again.”
But you wrote a wonderful looking back story, Jen.
This is lovely, Jen. I never could understand the appeal of pukey avocado bathrooms!
New challenges can work well, I recall moving three times in year at one point, each house left its mark on me. The stories they could tell, always interested me.
Ah, the nostalgia of leaving a house like that. We’re on the other side at the moment, trying to find that house. Hopefully without the pukey bathroom though. 🙂
Yes, we see the potential at first, an opportunity to make something our own. Time is such killer of great ideas.
Dear Jen,
Congratulations on the move. Never easy. Our last move was 15 years ago and we’ve yet to unpack everything in the subbasement.
You captured the feeling of leaving the old familiar home. Even though it’s a good thing, there are memories in every corner. Beautifully written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
That was heart-wrenching, Jen. And your photo could be a million scenes from my memory over the last 25 years. Well, maybe not a million, but at least 20. So evocative. I still think you should have got round to the avocado bath suite though… we had our primrose one out within six weeks of moving in.
Having moved more times than I can count, I can easily relate to this oft-repeated moment. I think this may be the last place for us, though, until they carry us out 🙂
“There’s no place like home.” Congrats on the move, and I know you and your family will build new cherished memories in the new place.