Monday, June 21, 2010

The House That Built Me

This weekend was an emotional rollercoaster to say at the least. I was almost relieved to be home... almost. My parents officially moved to Pennsylvania yesterday. I knew it would be hard, mostly because I haven't been home much to see the house get packed up. It didn't seem real to me so I knew this weekend it would all come crashing down.

Twenty-five years is a long time to be in a house. There are so many memories there: holidays, surprise b-day party that my sisters and I planned for my mom when I was only 9, my youngest sister was born there, learning to play basketball with my dad, sharing rooms, lemonade stands, etc. I did better than I thought till it was time for us to leave. I went inside to get a drink and was alone in the house and finally broke down. It's bad enough knowing you can't back to your "home" but knowing my family will be 25 hours away, compared to 3. It was a lot. And saying good-bye was not pretty. Poor Brock, he had a mess to deal with. We had to leave Saturday (instead of staying till sunday when my parents were leaving) because the elders at our church were supposed to be introducing the small group leaders. Brock and I are leading our group and the other co-leaders are in Europe so we wanted to make sure our group was represented. So I didn't even get to see my parents off or spend as much time with them as everyone else. It was so hard to leave. There were great times as well though! We got into town just in time to see my brother-in-law get baptized! We're so proud of him and happy to have him in our larger "family". My amazing aunt and uncle also hosted us for dinner and breakfast and we celebrated my sister's 22nd birthday. I'm glad there were some good times to the weekend as well! Here are some pics of the home I grew up in and a link to the video my sister Kaytie put together.
our home
the door from our garage to my parents' room
the piano my mom and i grew up playing, now in my living room
love notes from Mom :)
all packed up :(
mom's favorite swing we got her for Mother's Day
good bye little yellow house
leaving our marks

4 comments:

  1. Natalyia...you have me all teary! I can't imagine how you must have felt!

    My parents have moved 4 times since I was born, but Philip's Dad has been in the same house since he was 5...he is actually thinking about moving soon and I know it will be weird for Philip and his sister.

    You got some great pictures! That was a great idea :)

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  2. Thanks Jocelyn :) My sister Kaytie took all the pictures. She's really great at it and I'm so glad she did!!! Made it very special and almost therapeutic! :) I'm just so grateful my other sister Jarah still lives in McAlester. As much as I used to hate that town, I can't imagine never going back! lol :)

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  3. Such a sweet post! I'm sure that was a tough day! We have moved twice since we have been married, and I cried both times! I get too sentimental about moving ("This was our first home together! This was where we had our 1st Christmas" or "This was the home I brought my first 2 babies home to!!" lol!) Gabe always tells me that it is not the boards and sheetrock that make it special...but the memories. And those aren't going anywhere. ;)
    BTW...did your mom do all the decorating? Because it is super cute!! :)

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  4. Thanks Kayla :) God bless these men for being patient and understanding through all the sentimental tears! lol, my mom did do all the decorating. She's always been really good at it but she had just gotten all the projects done that she wanted to do to that house. I guess she may have gotten bored if they stayed there much longer! :)

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