When is a house a home?

A few days ago my family home was sold. It was the house my maternal Grandparents bought over 60 years years ago and where I spent most of my time growing up. My Grandparents have both passed away and family has been living in the house until recently but they decided it was too much upkeep.

This house holds a lot of memories for me: helping Grandpa in the basement and out in the garden, doing puzzles with Gran on the kitchen table, and sitting on the front porch counting cars going by with Grandpa. Christmas, and other family dinners were all held here, and every family member has some old furniture stored in the huge basement. Even as a teenager and adult I visited Gran there often and chatted with her well into the night.

My family is mostly relieved to be rid of the house. My Mom says it is just a house now, no longer a home, since my Grandparents aren’t there anymore and it’s the memories that matter and not the structure. For me the house holds most of my 36 years of memories – I dread driving by the house and seeing unfamiliar cars in the driveway, and I fear the house may be changed to make it unrecognizable.

The sale is almost complete so the only thing I can do now is look forward and concentrate on making a home for my new family with the same kind of love and happy memories I was fortunate to grow up with.

And to the new owners: please enjoy and take care of our home.