Home Sweet Home

Havenwood Welcoming Committee


At long last we are officially, irrevocably moved in. And now that I'm here, I can't figure out what took me so long.

Friday, my brother in law and his wife arrived with a van, a fresh load of enthusiasm, good humor, and that family's typically boundless energy. Their arrival was like the sun breaking through storm clouds.

By the end of the day on Saturday, the four guys had packed, loaded, moved, unloaded, and set up all the big pieces, and we women had done the same with the contents of the kitchen and dining areas. My sister in law's goal was to have everything put away by quitting time, and to have no boxes left lying around. Due mostly to her determination and stamina, that's exactly where we stood at day's end. The place actually looks like a home now, and is organized well enough to be comfortable.

We topped things off with a well-deserved dinner at a local steak house. We hadn't been out to a restaurant dinner since we took on the new mortgage, and it felt like a real treat.

Sunday morning we christened the new stove with its first splatters of bacon grease and bread crumbs, and shared a big farm breakfast around our own kitchen table. We watched the deer between sips of coffee and laughter.

Errands, sorting, and rearranging occupied most of Sunday and Monday. There's a lot more stuff to sort through at the old place, but none of it is necessary. It can come over in small batches as we get to it, if it comes over at all. Goodwill may be in for quite a windfall.

Pilot Son has decided to try staying in the old house alone for a while, and is considering buying it from us. That could work out to be a win-win for all of us, given the current housing market.

Funny, isn't it, how dreading a thing can take more energy than the actual doing of it. And in the end, sometimes, if you're really lucky, it turns out there really wasn't anything to dread in the first place. It's been a long, long journey to get here. A whole lifetime, in fact. But it feels like we've finally come home.