March10, 2008

Deuteronomy 11: 19-21 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.


Yesterday the Mr. and I started the BIG MOVE to gramma's house. A very busy good day, as predicted. We did some moving in of Smith Stuff. Some storage of gramma & grampa stuff and a lot of blending of the two. Rearranged furniture that had been in the same location for twenty years and patted ourselves on the back for our cleverness.
Naturally, I went without my camera so day one is left to memory and description but I am packing it up today. The only room that is finally done to reflect us is our bedroom so maybe that will be the first to make the blog!
This morning I am sore from moving and rearranging, and rearranging, and rearranging again. But I feel good. At some point in the long day, we crossed a thresh hold literally and symbolically. We walked in to the home of my deceased grandparents. More than once there was a catch in my heart that if I settled in and truly moved them out, it meant they were dead.
Another thresh hold was just beyond the sadness and that was a feeling of inheritance. No, I am not inheriting the house. We are not the Kennedys after all. I am buying it from my mom and uncle. But I am buying my inheritance. And with it I am claiming it as my own. If my gramma and grampa convinced me of anything, it was that whatever they had was mine as well. Not in an entitled and spoiled manner but in a blessed and grateful manner.
I think the house needed to sit, frozen in time for a while for me to be ready for it to be no longer theirs. I wonder if anyone else felt the same way.
So it has been a time of crossing over thresh holds of homes and of hearts.
I promise to take you along via photographs, be warned that some will be forty years old and some hours old. This is part of my journey. But I think the tears have given way to delight as I embrace the whole of life. Puppies and houses, antiques and new televisions. Living and dying. And being fully alive. Just like my gramma and grampa are.