My heart is heavy, saying goodbye is never easy! Goodbye in cases like this seem so permanent! You see, today, I walk through this old house, my home, for the last time! Just for a moment though, I can almost feel, almost see the joy on your faces Mom and Dad the day you first walked through these doors and realized this was where you wanted to bring that little bundle you were expecting. This would be where this family would call home. Now, fifty-three years later, a stranger will call this home. I never dreamed I would be so emotional over this day; my last walk through this place I still call home even after moving into my own home with my new husband thirty-three plus years ago. All I can think of right now is the old song, “If These Walls Could Speak”.
Mom and Dad, know y’all were Glen Campbell fan’s when I was growing up, I am more familiar with Amy Grant’s version, but this one is in memory of you both:
Can you pass me a kleenex? Oh my, some of my absolute greatest memories were in this old house. Some of my hardest memories, too. Neighborhood children flocking to visit with my Dad, they loved him! Playing on the swings and later them being replaced with a porch swing. Cowboys and Indians, Batman and Robin, learning to catch a softball…taking keep your eye on the ball literally when I did not get out of the way and caught it with my eye! Then there were those rainy days when friends were otherwise occupied and I played all alone inside while my parents worked. Being the only child can be lonely! And on the up side, I am grateful you didn’t use it as an excuse to indulge and spoil me.
Not only did I grow up here in this old house but my children spent happy times here during their childhood. Both of them, as young adults lived here at different times after Dad went home to heaven. During the early years of their marriage, both of them brought their first child home to this place to call home for the first months of their lives. Oh the memories of my Mom keeping my oldest here so I could work. I left crying each morning and flew into the driveway every afternoon because my hearts desire was to be at home with him. Memories of coming home to him at age two dancing to Elvis while my parents sang along, so much laughter! Later watching he and his little sister climb into the empty wood storage box in the sun room and peek over the top laughing and playing.
Dad always made a point as Easter approached to let the otherwise perfectly manicured lawn grow up so eggs could easily have hiding places. He would talk about it for several weeks ahead. Christmases when I was young where the whole extended family would descend upon us in our little abode. Mom would cook for days on end. Multiple appetizers, meats, veggies galore, a minimum of three cakes, and several pies. Oh how my Mom loved Christmas!
There are many hard memories too, like the day I couldn’t get Dad on the phone for much of the morning and drove over to check on him; my daughter find him unconscious. Oh, if these walls could talk! Now here I am, one last walk through as the house stands empty. I pray Heavenly Father, that You seal to my mind and my heart all these memories and then some! I pray that You will continually refresh them and others like them long after I make my final exit through these doors. This house as been a major part of my life because of the people and occasions that it hosted. I pray that as long as it stands everyone who enters it’s doors will find blessings and will make wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. Even more, I pray that they will know the One from whom the blessings flow. This home has weathered many a storm and sheltered all who abided inside for over a half century because our family put our trust and faith in You Lord, may that legacy continue to the future occupants!
Living in His Grace 