Evidence of a Life Lived

After twenty eight years, I am selling the house my late husband and I raised our kids in and the house my husband died in six years ago. I knew after he died I could not maintain an acre of land, a dirt driveway and an aging septic system etc. It has taken six years to down size and deal with the clutter. When the stager came over to give me feedback on how to make the house look for prospective buyers. She used and interesting phrase, she told me I needed to turn my home into a house. All evidence of who had lived there (personal photographs, any artwork or dust collectors that weren't generic or even hinted at my taste had to be put away) I understand that it needs to be done, but it was the exact opposite of what I had done for twenty eight years. The house is evidence of the lives that were lived there. There is a board between the kitchen and living room where my husband measured and marked how much the children were growing. The concrete by the garage that we poured has our names written in it including one that says "pink dinosaur" because that was what my daughter wanted to be called when she was little. All the pictures on the walls are either ones that have a story behind them or photographs my husband took. And then there is the framed map of Australia with the pen line around it. Right after we were married, my husband and I took a four month trip around Australia on a motorcycle. It was the trip of a lifetime. There are framed pictures of my first books. Good memories, sad memories...evidence of a life lived.  And so I take the memories and the photographs with me. Things like our names in the concrete remain for the next owner to wonder who pink dinosaur was. I have such mixed emotions. Looking forward to having a house that will not feel like a part time job but also feeling like I am losing something very important. Still trying to sort through that. How about you? What would where you live say about who you are as a person? Have you sold a house after being there a long time? What about your childhood home?

Leave a comment with your email address I will be giving away two copies of my book Hidden Away. The main character is a woman who prepares second homes for owners to arrive and ends up caught in a theft ring.