Today is an historic day. Today my parents will sell the house – a shelter they have clung to for the last 55 years; refusing all offers to sell, moving away, coming back, adding on, remodeling, clinging to this third acre of land carved from 35 acres north of town once owned by my maternal grandparents. I spent the summer of my 10th year at the construction site, pounding nails and breathing sawdust and learning about 2 X 4s and insulation and what makes for a quality structure. At that time, we were living in the “old” house next door – the house belonging to my grandparents. We moved into the new house just in time for me to catch the school bus to fifth grade.
Over the past 55 years, my parents and my brother and I have moved in and out – to Guam, to Seattle, to college, to marriage, to Germany, to Virginia, to Dallas, to Chicago – sometimes all of us, more often, one of us branching out and then returning temporarily. My brother has not stayed in the house since 1986. Much to my dismay, I have been more of a boomerang child, returning out of necessity due to military schedules, marriage lapses, and job layovers.
Close to midnight in 1973, my oldest son was born in this house. Today, August 29, 2019, that same son will close on this house. The house he was born in has become the house he remodels for his family of six. The house of Sunday dinners and family reunions and memorable water fights will be the place he shelters his family and launches from for further adventure. The property will stay in the family for yet another generation. My parents have moved – but only to the upper room. Thus they will be able to live on their beloved property until declining physical capacity dictates 24-hour skilled assistance.
Yes, today is an historic day. My son will close on his own newly remodeled house – the one with six bedrooms and four baths – and move on to an even bigger project – remodeling the house in which he was born. If anyone can do it, he can. After all, he made his original entrance into this world with only 45 minutes notice.