Today I signed my name and said goodbye to an important part of my history. My boyfriend of 50 years kissed me at the front door, but the porch light didn't flash and a little sister didn't jump out of the bushes. There were only a few roses in the flower beds and no potted fern on the porch.
Buying this house and land was a huge step for my frugal parents. All our meals were home grown and my mom told me in later years that they were afraid of not being able to pay the loan. They loved that old rock house with its red rock, fossils and petrified wood. The original owner told us that she had prayed for an oil well so she could have a new house. When the oil started to flow, she gathered rocks from her travels around the world and built her dream home. Her favorite and most precious rocks are in the porch and fireplace.
They have been gone ten years. Renters have come and gone. Colors and carpets and lights have all been changed. I wasn't going to be sentimental. I was not. But one day I was there alone cleaning when the house started coming to life. I heard the laughter of preachers, visiting evangelists, relatives, and neighbors around the dining table. The sweet notes and the off notes from the piano practises were there. I remembered the entire summers of filling the freezers with black-eyed peas, corn, green beans, peaches, and apricots. I heard my sister crying as she sat on the low rock wall because she missed the old house we had moved from. The grandchildren sat on a blanket spread on the floor and were served like royalty by their doting grandmother. Oh, the memories.
Today an excited young couple and their four year old cowboy move in. It is their first home. To them it's not just a house, but hopes and dreams and love. I wish them green grass and flowers and music and laughter. I wish them peacocks and chickens and colored eggs . I wish them fine horses and fat cattle. I wish them the very, very best and a long happy life.
"Peace and prosperity to you, your house, and everything you own." (1 Samuel 25:6 NLT)
