And so we must part ways and say goodbye; my parents are moving and everything’s changing. Now cue Miranda Lambert's, “The House that Built Me.”
Never did I think the day would come home to see a “For Sale” sign on my front lawn that reads “Sold.” Never did I think I would have to pack up my room and nor did I ever think of saying goodbye for more than just a semester at college. My house was the basis of all my memories: the holidays, the birthday parties, the playdates, the growing up and it stuck with me through my embarrassing stage of elementary and middle school.
I'd like to give a very special shout-out to my love, my best friend; my bedroom. There are so many things I need to thank you for. You were the place I could go when I wanted to escape the yelling and fights with my parents and the place to cry and hide out and watch endless hours of Netflix without being harshly judged. Speaking of being harshly judged, thank you for not judging me as I embraced my horrible dance moves growing up while listening to "Hannah Montana," and Aly and AJ. Thank you for the playdates you hosted with my elementary school friends and I, and for the prank calls you allowed from the landline without my mom or dad finding out about.
As for the high school years, I could always count on you to run home to after getting a bad test grade or getting into a fight with my friends, where I could hibernate under the covers and those times you hosted my friends and me in the basement without my parents knowing (a huge thank you for that).
Now, these memories are the ones I must let go to create new ones in a new house. However; as much as I love you, I do not appreciate the times when you got me in trouble. Let’s see: when your stairs squeaked while I was trying to sneak out at 2 AM, so then you woke up my parents. Or the time when your smoke detector when off after I put popcorn in the microwave too long, as well as all of the times your WiFi broke down on me; how dare you.
You’ve held so many “firsts” in between your structured walls. There was the first pet, first fight, first scary movie, first goodbye on the first day of school, first kiss, first boyfriend and so much more. Now, you begin to hold so many lasts: last meal, last TV show watched in the living room, last dance party, last goodbye on the last day of school and last night of sleep in my childhood bed.
Saying goodbye is so difficult when you’ve never said goodbye to something this big before. I very well appreciate the great hide-and-seek spots you’ve created for me, as well as the home movies you were behind-the-scenes of. And if in the next couple weeks, months or even years you see a car sitting at the end of the driveway for a couple minutes, don’t be alarmed, it's most likely just nostalgic me reminiscing about my whole life with you. I hope you can do the same to the next family that lives in my home what you have done for me.
