Twenty-two years. Twenty-two years of my life were spent at the same house, on the same road, in the same neighborhood--and now that is all coming to an end. After being told that the sale of my childhood home had been all but finalized, I decided to venture back to the place where I was raised for one final look around.
I know a lot of people who have bumped around from house to house quite a bit while growing up, but this has been my home for my entire life. From my first steps to my first days of college and everything in between, all occurred within the walls of this one place. As I walked from room to room, I couldn’t help but be filled with endless memories. No one would ever know that the shiny granite counter tops used to be covered in a bland shade of pink, or that my now grey colored room filled with exercise equipment used to be covered with three different shades of blue and filled with an endless amount of high school photographs. No one will know that the bonus room above the garage used to be an old rickety attic where old toys were stored, or that our dark long paved driveway used to be no more than a long dirt path. Paint now covers the marks that were once in the corner of the kitchen where my mom used to measure my brother and me over the years, as well as the small nail holes that once traced the hallway from revolving picture frames.
As I sit on the new leather couch staged perfectly in the living room, I remember the blue and grey checkered one that once took its place. I look around and think of every event that occurred in this one house. As I stare out the window I remember that this is the place where I used to play capture the flag (the biggest tree to the right of the house with a slight curve at the top is the best known boundary), spent endless hours playing hide and seek in the dark, and where I attempted to beat my older brother at wiffle ball (ghost man on second?). This is where I first cried over a boy, where I first got ready to sneak out to a party and even where I first got grounded.
This is where I grew as a person throughout the years, and where a large part of my memories will forever be held. I am so happy for my parents to be able to move on to bigger and better things, but it is hard to think that never again will I walk through the same front door that I have for so long.
All I can say is that I hope the new buyers know exactly what they are in for--not just any old house, but a home.
