Return to Paradise

Hello Everyone,

Those of you that have been following my blog are most likely wondering what happened to me this week. Joe, Zinny, my sister Gail and I have all been up in Paradise, California cleaning out our old family home. For the most part, the little cottage in the woods has been vacant since 1999, when our Mother passed away. Our parents bought this house in 1959 for $12,000 dollars....can you imagine. To make a long story short, we finally decided it was time to get the house ready for someone to rent. What a long and exhausting week we've had.

My parents took great pride in their yard and created a park-like setting that they thoroughly enjoyed. They often said they felt like they were always on vacation. We've had a handyman for the past eleven years that tried to keep the house and yard look lived in. It must have worked as we didn't have any vandalism for that period of time.

It is very lush and now all spruced up and ready for a new family to love.

There are split rail fences that haven't fallen down yet, but they are close to it!

We also did a bit of yard work to make the house more presentable. We've scrubbed, cleaned, washed, starched and ironed curtains....now that is a chore. We've cleaned out the back shed and a storage area under the house. Everything that was so familiar to us is now either packed away, hauled away or delivered to the Hope Hospice Thrift Store or sold to Aunt Mabel's General Store.

I found a Black Widow spider under this pot and decided to leave it there in its home. The image of "Home" takes on many different meanings. I only lived in this home for twelve years yet I returned home many times over the years for visits and Holidays. My mother lived in this home for forty years.

I couldn't tell you how many times over the past week I looked at the wall where the Seth Thomas clock used to hang. I also can't tell you how many times I would look in a mirror that was no longer hanging on the wall. The mirror right by the front door that I would always glance at myself before opening the door to welcome my high school date.

So what makes a house a home? It is the furnishing, the aromas, the "stuff" that we cart around with us, the people that live in it, the people that love you. I haven't lived in this home for thirty-nine years.....but it is still "home." So it is time for me to let go of this home and let someone else love it just as much as I do and always will.

As always,

Lynn