What's in a House

One year ago today we buried my Grandmother.  We called her Mimi.

Today members of my family packed up my grandparents home because it has sold.

I am sad.  My grandparents bought their little house in 1961. My dad was 11.  That was 50 years ago.  For 50 years my family made that little house a huge home full of laughter and love.

The last Christmas with my grandparents we managed to cram the following people into their home:

Papa, Mimi, Dad (their son), Mom, Todd, Deb, Chase, Amber (pregnant), Bear, Luke, Cooper, Abby, Nathan, Clint, Clay, Aunt Merissa (their daughter) Uncle Kyle, Aunt Carol (their daughter) Uncle Steve, Leslie, Matt, Robin, Aunt Pam (their daughter) and Lauren.

23 people.

Did I mention the house is less than 1000 square feet?

So I pose the question:  What's in a house?

In the house that my family moved out of today there was homemade sweet tea and sweet cornbread made by the best Papa ever.  My Papa's rose bushes.  Easter egg hunts and long games of Clue, Spades, and 42.  We shared secrets under a kitchen table transformed into a fort.  Sunny side up eggs and the smell of fresh cut wood.  An old boat we couldn't crawl on because it was covered with fiber glass. The most beautiful green paint and a sparkly ceiling.  Our school pictures line the walls and pictures of our Uncle Cowboy, who died before the grandkids were born.

Mostly we were together in that house.  We weren't adults to busy for each other.  We were not caught up in kids, work, or life.  We were just a family.  I never imagined the day would come that we wouldn't meet in the place that was home to my Dad and Aunts.

But we all grew up.

My brother bought his first house this week.  Now it is his turn to turn four walls into a home.

The Hubs and I close on our house the beginning of May.  I understand how my grandparents must have felt.  The excitement of making a house a home.  I want my dwelling to be like theirs.  Full of the laughter, singing, and games.  A place where my family can feel safe and accepted.

Today is a sad day, but my Papa and Mimi are in Heaven and they do not have the worries of this world.  They are singing with the angels, so it is alright that their house has been sold.  All the memories we made in that house will be passed from generation to generation.

My Papa would have loved our new house. It is a carpenter's dream.  When I walked in the first time I thought of him.  I knew I was home.