Bittersweet

There was a new car, purchased for a new baby. We adopted new furry friends, old ones passed away from illness and age. We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary with almost an entire house full of new furniture, then the majority of the appliances replaced with new ones within the last year.

I've spent a lot of time the last few months looking at the spot where my mom always sat in our home. The table is falling apart, the chairs now only brought out for overflow for our biggest gatherings. We moved our meals into the formal dinning room years ago. If there was one thing I could take with me from this house it's that spot, red wall in the background and crappy flooring I've always hated but never got around to replacing.

That chair on the end, where Olive's hand is resting? That was my mom's spot. When things moved from the kitchen to the living room she simply picked up her chair and turned it around.



Next week we move into our new home in a (not really) new city. We probably won't bring the table. We've been shopping for a new one.

Even before the next family moves in and starts making it their own it is already not the same house it was in 2008. You know what's weird? To think of you mom, living or not, showing up at your home and not recognizing it, or your car as you drive down the street. Even crazier, not living there anymore.

But much to my surprise that's not what knocked the wind out of me, that moment came when the nice person setting up internet service and the new landline told me to grab a pen and write down our new number. Last year we got new mobile numbers, and now the landline is changing, too.

Wow. I don't even care, it's just...mindblowing.