The House that Built Me

Well....I can't believe it is really happening....but my Mama and Daddy are moving!  They sold their house months ago.  They've been building since the end of the summer.  I knew this day was coming....but I must admit...it is bitter sweet. 
I'm happy they are moving.  I'm happy their new house will have less land and space and maintenance.  But ahhh....I sure do love the house they are leaving behind. 

Every time I hear The House that Built Me I get all teary eyed....

I've lived in a lot of houses over the years.  All over Durham.  My Daddy is a home builder and when we were young we moved a bunch....I think by the time I was 8 years old I had lived in 5 houses.....but the year I turned 8 we moved to what I would come to consider my home.  I spent the rest of my years growing up at that house.  So many memories....27 years worth!

About 27 years ago Randy and I played baseball in my backyard with a bunch of other kids from church....before there was grass...it was just a big dirt field.

My Daddy built me and my sister and brother a tree house where I spent many afternoons plotting and planning and dreaming.

I remember having pet funerals for many a dog and cat in our back yard.
I remember Randy throwing rocks at my window late at night to tell me to get off the phone so he could call (my Daddy refused to get call waiting :)
I remember Randy asking me on our first date in the driveway, after a youth group meeting, when I was 16.
I remember our first kiss on the front porch.

I remember running back and forth between our house and the Burch's house (she was the original momto5 and she still lives there and is now grandma to 13 I think?)  I remember her boys pushing me in the creek and her girls letting me help make Christmas cookies.

(This is a picture of the well worn trail between our house and the Burch's)

I remember sleepovers, birthday parties, stretching the phone cord across the hallway and into the bathroom so I could have some privacy for my many very important phone conversations.

I remember family dinners and the long conversations that sometimes followed.
I remember watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.
I remember my sister convincing me to give her the much bigger and much better bedroom because my smaller room had a view of the pool :)

I remember sitting on the front porch (and that is all I will say about that although there is more I could say!)with all my friends and talking for hours and my Daddy coming out like 100 times to remind us that some people liked to sleep and that we were welcome to hang out there but to please keep it down just a little....my parents were so patient.

I remember fighting with my brother and sister over white lights or colored lights.
I remember many a horse match....that I ALWAYS lost.

I remember sweeping that LLLLLLOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG driveway.

I remember cutting the grass in that BIG yard on many a hot summer day.

I remember cleaning that pool...YUCK!
I remember painting that shed....and still get to see the band of gold on Randy's hand as a testament to that hard work!

The cookouts, The pool parties......The board games, the Christmas mornings.
Memories of bringing my babies there on the way home from the hospital to see Nanny and Pa.
I remember my last night at home....before I left to get married. 

I cried then and I cry now.  It's not the house....it's the people.  It's the memories....a lot of them just happened to be set in the house. 

I'm thankful for a Mama and Daddy who loved me, and Stacy, and Matt.  I thankful for parents who stayed married and stayed in love....even when life was tough.  I'm thankful that my parents taught me the value of hard work and family and memory making and priorities.  I'm thankful for neighbors who not only watched us grow up and shared their lives with us but  to Mrs. Burch who was also my Sunday School Teacher and led me to the Lord after Sunday School around the same time we moved into that house. 

As I close that huge chapter of my life called My Childhood Home I'm grateful most of all that I'm saying goodbye to a house....to sticks, and to stones and not to people or memories. 

I'll miss that grand ole' house.....but I'm grateful for the memories

Memories......So sweet.....So glad I get to keep these.