Rain

 It is raining today - finally! It's been raining steady for the past few hours and I'm loving it.  Rain today matches my mood.  My brothers are meeting with a realtor today about selling the family home. I know it really isn't a home anymore - mom and dad are gone and the rest of us are spread out in our own parts of the world. But it was a home once and there are many great memories attached to it. So many good things happened there and, as in any home, quite a few not so good things happened there as well.  I can remember my brothers getting in trouble for goofing off during dinner time. I may or may not have been the one responsible for making them laugh.  I remember having to sit at the dinner table until I eat every. last. one. of. those. peas. on. my. plate! It's funny because I love peas now! I remember when, right before 4th grade, our house burned while the entire family was at a parade in a neighboring town. A next door neighbor saw the smoke and broke in to save the house. When we returned from the parade, all the neighbors were waiting for us offering any help that we needed.  I'll never forget living in the basement of the house for months and months while the rest of the house was being rebuilt.  It was a time of togetherness none of us will ever forget!  

We had so much fun there! I remember all the Christmases, all the Thanksgivings, all the other non-holiday times! I can remember my dad and my uncle eating tons of corn on the cob and hotdogs when we would have our summer get togethers. I remember the baseball 'field' we had right outside the bathroom window - how we never broke a window is a mystery!  I remember laying in the front yard looking at the stars on summer nights with the neighbor kids.  I remember my dad and my brothers stapling hemlock boughs and lights along the eaves for Christmas. 

We had some really terrific times there - when my kids were young, we would have dinner at my parents every Sunday. It was a reprieve for me since at the time, I was a single mom and having some time to laugh and joke with my parents was essential to my mental health.  I honestly don't know how I would have made it through the early years without having that Sunday dinner to look forward to. 

So I started this post a week ago and the second showing of my parents' home will be later this morning. As of right now, every thing is still there. I am not looking forward to packing bits and pieces of our lives and deciding what stays and what goes.  It is going to be sad, no doubt about it.  But after the initial sadness of packing, I think thoughts will quickly move toward fun memories.  It's a great house and this family has grown.  It is time for the house to be 'home' for another family.