I Am A Closer - Tying Up Loose Ends

I started my blog two years ago with the purpose of documenting significant events in my life, trying to capture those incidents that gave meaning to my daily experience. It could be as simple as a walk in the neighborhood, a visit from a friend, or a family celebration.  However, sometimes the event is so huge that the task of trying to get my arms around it is just too hard.  That is why it has been almost 2 months since my last post.  I have written about the decision to move and the purchase of the new house and then I have been silent.  I have not picked up my pen and the huge event...the packing up of one life to begin another...the closing up of one house to open another...the saying good-by to somethings and some people and saying hello to some others...is rushing by me like a torrent as it moves into the past.  So today I want to set some of it down in this post.

In 4 days a Chris' Moving Men van will pull up to our home in Playa del Rey and will carry all the items we "cannot live without" to our new home in San Pedro.  These past weeks have taken us into boxes of treasures that we have not opened for 14 years, into shelves filled with dusty technical books, into clothing that has not donned our bodies since our sizes changed, into alleys behind stores where we scavenged sturdy cardboard boxes, into Goodwill stores where we deposited arm-fulls of donations, and into websites where a few keystrokes changed personal information, address and phone numbers.  These are the tangible tasks that go along with accomplishing any move. 

Just some of the MANY boxes!

We are able-bodied and healthy and physically we are doing fine.  It is the intangible aspects that can be draining, dealing with the emotion that goes with each task.  It is acknowledging the precious memory and being willing to move on from it. 

The other day as I emptied one of the kitchen cupboards, I remembered Jay and I sitting at the table years ago designing our perfect kitchen, with drawers and shelves just the way we wanted them, and the excitement of watching our creation come to life. 

Scouring the kitchen sink I remembered the many times I bathed little Gabriel in it! 

It was good that Gabriel was "little" because he LOVED his bath in the sink!

Clearing the front deck I remembered the many candle lite dinners Jay and I ate out there as the sun faded into darkness and we kept talking and enjoying our wine. 

Watching Spencer and Sophie shooting hoops across the street I remembered the days when they were each born and how we watched them grow up. 

There is no way to put these emotions into a box.  The best I can do is recall the memory, savor the feeling, tuck it into a corner of my mind, and trust that the future will bring new memories just as special.

It helps that we know our home and neighborhood will be loved by the new buyers.  When I buried St. Joseph next to the For Sale sign, I asked him to help us find a family who would love our home as much as we did and would bring love and happiness into its walls. 

I hold fast to Italian customs and St. Joseph, Patron of a Happy Home always helps us sell!

Well, he delivered!  Nick and Rachael Martinez, newly-weds for one year are so excited to be buying their first home.

Nick, Rachael, Patricia and Jay

Special moments deserve a celebration, so last Sunday we held a Neighborhood Gathering on our front deck.  We wanted to say thank you and good-by to our neighbors

Telling them how much we have loved living on Earldom!

and to introduce them to Nick and Rachael. 

Nick telling us their story!

Our wonderful realtor, Jane St. John, loved the idea and offered to host it.

Jane, Patricia and the wonderful food! Spencer behind Jane!

 Justin and Felicia brought food and flowers and we had a wonderful time.

Jane and Felicia

I do believe that life is a journey, not a destination.  We are continuing on our journey and moving into a new chapter of our life.  Change is energizing and we are excited.  Now I just hope that we can get the internet set up with Cox Cable and that I can find the box where I packed the potato peeler!