Rock Wall
After a year of trying to get both our feet and my parents feet underneath us/them, everything has fallen into place for the changes undergoing the house I grew up in. I'm glad it has been a slow process, everyone needed that time to adapt at a pace we could all tolerate. God's timing is perfect.
Four weeks ago, Arthur and I went to our lawyer's officer to sign the paperwork to transfer the property into our name. After multiple discussions with my sister and parents, this is where the path lead. I asked Mom and Dad if they wanted to go, but they said to just use my Power of Attorney. Three weeks ago I started in the second to the last room to pack and sort, Mom and Dad's bedroom while Art did some light demo. One week ago, Doug, our trusted contractor started. As of today, the dumpster will be dropped off in the driveway. We have had the contractor, tree guys, electrical, home inspector, fence guy, exterminators, and AC guys all come through the house. There are walls down, bathrooms are gutted and I finally finished my parent's bedroom... one room left.
Surprisingly I have been steady through everything, until the stone wall. Arthur's excitement over a new project is tangible so that helps. I have no reason to be attached to a stone wall covered in 4 decades of dust and nicotine, but I was. It was and hopefully will be my only moment of emothional bounce back. That wall has been a constant observer of kids coming in and out, in and out, in and out again. It was there when we moved in and I was missing my sister so much, when my grandmother moved in and I had to share a room with my sister, Dad heading off to his last tour on the USS Paul and then coming back again, all the summers of cousins, barbecues and sleepovers. High school and college graduations, deaths, marriages and births....that wall was there. I told my cousins that the wall was coming down and they had a hard time too. So I took a picture of it and then told Arthur that I didn't want to see it torn apart. The next time I went over to the house, it was in pieces stacked in the corner. Arthur cleaned off one rock for me to keep and it made me feel better.
Four weeks ago, Arthur and I went to our lawyer's officer to sign the paperwork to transfer the property into our name. After multiple discussions with my sister and parents, this is where the path lead. I asked Mom and Dad if they wanted to go, but they said to just use my Power of Attorney. Three weeks ago I started in the second to the last room to pack and sort, Mom and Dad's bedroom while Art did some light demo. One week ago, Doug, our trusted contractor started. As of today, the dumpster will be dropped off in the driveway. We have had the contractor, tree guys, electrical, home inspector, fence guy, exterminators, and AC guys all come through the house. There are walls down, bathrooms are gutted and I finally finished my parent's bedroom... one room left.
Surprisingly I have been steady through everything, until the stone wall. Arthur's excitement over a new project is tangible so that helps. I have no reason to be attached to a stone wall covered in 4 decades of dust and nicotine, but I was. It was and hopefully will be my only moment of emothional bounce back. That wall has been a constant observer of kids coming in and out, in and out, in and out again. It was there when we moved in and I was missing my sister so much, when my grandmother moved in and I had to share a room with my sister, Dad heading off to his last tour on the USS Paul and then coming back again, all the summers of cousins, barbecues and sleepovers. High school and college graduations, deaths, marriages and births....that wall was there. I told my cousins that the wall was coming down and they had a hard time too. So I took a picture of it and then told Arthur that I didn't want to see it torn apart. The next time I went over to the house, it was in pieces stacked in the corner. Arthur cleaned off one rock for me to keep and it made me feel better.
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