Just over 4 months later, we moved all of our possessions that survived the latest cull into 4 walls that was just a house at the time... but would later become our home.
We sat on our deck, enjoying a wine, the breeze, the view and each other's company. And continued to dream of our future. We decided this was where we would grow old (probably the hangover of moving 65 thousand boxes was still too fresh in our minds).
Fast forward 9 years and our home has seen many friendships develop, numerous dinner parties, bottles of wine and beer consumed, a proposal on bended knee in the kitchen, a hens party, a baby shower, arguments, tears and make-ups. Our home saw me close the door for the last time as a Lo Giudice and open the door for the first time the next day as a Corney. Our home saw us become first-time parents, struggling for weeks in the early hours of the morning with a baby who cried a lot and slept little. It saw many other firsts - first smile, first poo-splosion that rocketed across the room, first step, first tumble off the back deck, first 'drinking out of the dogs water bowl' and first gecko poo consumed. First day of daycare, first day home as a family of four, first day of school. And our home has been the backdrop for a million memories in between. We've seen the front garden planted and pulled out so many times. We've seen kids 'artwork' lovingly drawn on the walls (grrrr). We've seen laughter at bathtime with bubbles going everywhere. Milk being splattered across the floor. Snuggles with kids on the couch. Weetbix cementing itself in every nook and cranny. And many bedtime stories and kisses.
And lately, we've seen our home receive a mini-makeover as it became the subject of intense conversation. Our family home is only days away from being put on the market. There are plans underfoot in the Corney household for big changes. Good changes. But in with the change, we will have to leave our home.
I have so much emotion invested in this home and I'm not ready to say good-bye just yet but the inevitable is just around the corner (with an optimistic view of selling our house in a depressed market). And once sold, our home will once again become a house... waiting to create new memories for a new family by becoming their home....
A house made a home through memories. It's emotional reliving so many memories with the knowledge that the days are potentially numbered.
ReplyDeleteHere's to another family galling in love with your house so much they want to make their own firsts in too.