Pook and Bug

I'm excited, but sad. My parents are moving from my childhood home to be near me in Atlanta. I've been encouraging them to do this for years, especially since I got pregnant with Pook. They'd visit GA at the worst times. They helped me move in to a third floor apartment, in August, before the power (A/C) was turned on. They'd get stuck on I-285 at rush hour on a Friday of a holiday weekend (think parking lot with eight lanes). I'd push for a February visit to see a spring sneak peek and we'd have an ice storm. It just didn't persuade my dad. But the stars have aligned and now they're doing it. As my friend L puts it: "a mathematician with an impulsive streak...I like it!"

I got a call from my mom that they'd like to see what their money would buy in Atlanta, first. I spoke to a realtor friend and she gave us a website of houses. They came to visit that weekend and we took the opportunity to drive around to see a few. Then we arranged to visit a couple. Then they decided to make an offer. Then the offer was accepted. One long weekend. And now, a week later, their house is on the market in Indianapolis. Anyone need a 5BR house? Video tour link available upon request!

We're going to go up for Christmas this year. I figure this is probably our last Santa Christmas, and celebrating it in my childhood home feels right. I'll make my own video tour of it while we're there and there are toys and gifts strewn around. And I'll get all sappy. Because it has so much in it that can't be packed.

See the upstairs window closest to the front door? That was my bedroom. I could watch the street while doing my homework. My dad used to start tomato seedlings on my desk there in the sun. They smelled. Sister MD had the corner bedroom. The lower (center) window of the basement? We had a ping pong table (used mostly as a mere table) where my father challenged me and Sister MD to games. He played left handed until he got so good he could beat us with either hand. Pook and Bug consider it to be the "game room" and dig out the Lego and stuffed animals when we visit. My dolls, Jennifer and Susie, are asleep in an old trunk in that room. I suspect they'll be packed up to come here. The kitchen and family room (far right window) were where we spent most of our time playing and coloring, but the living room with the picture window in the front has strong memories too. We'd move the tv in there in the winter, since the room was warmer. We'd sometimes sit in front of the fireplace, drying our just-washed hair while All in the Family or Wild World of Animals played on screen. Only the left half of my head would be warm and dry as I faced the tv. Behind the photographer is a drainage creek which runs across the front and side of the yard. There were a lot of leaf boats raced there. In the backyard, near the kitchen window, I had a tire swing. I spent a lot of time daydreaming on it, but the swing has been gone for years now. Pook and Bug never saw it.

We all will make new memories in the new house. Pook and Bug will bike to see Nana and Papa, bake cookies, build birdhouses and have a second home. I will see less of my parents more often (hours at a time instead of days) and enjoy sharing my city and my kids. Two and a half miles away beats 500 miles anytime.