30 Years of memories and a new home

Last weekend Holly, Bryan and I went up to the 'Ville to help my mom move. Mom retired about a year ago and decided to sell her house and move. She along with my sister and her family built a beautiful home together in Taylorsville. Above the garage is what we are calling mom's penthouse...and it's a very cozy pad! Fireplace, huge deck that wraps around the back, kitchen, living room, etc. again, a very warm new home. She's even getting a flat panel TV to go over the fireplace (my mom is very hip!).

But helping mom move out of her "old home" was bittersweet. We moved there in 1978...it was a brand-spanking-new house. I'll never forget the first time seeing our new home...I was ten at the time...my sister Lisa and I were debating who would get the front bedroom (she won!).

There have been so many memories that were made in that house...here are a few off the top of my head:
-I prayed to invite Christ to be Lord of my life in our family room (mom guided me through this!)
-Sleepover galores with friends and family
-Sleepovers Lisa had with her friends that I had a crush on...
-Family dinners...
-High School Graduation party
-Kissing Jill Wells in the driveway after the graduation party
-Sometimes "lively" arguments with my dad
-Thanksgiving at our house (HUGE tradition!)
-Where Holly met my family for the first time and our dog Sheba peed on her.
-A few family pets (Fudgie and our beloved Sheba)
-Thinking I was cool by trying to turn my room into a disco while playing my Saturday Night Fever ALBUM!!! Dang what's an album??
-Trying to learn how to break dance in my room my sophomore year (in front on my mirror...trying to learn 'the wave')
-My grandma using my room in her beginning stages of cancer...faintly remember that.
-Learning to mow the grass on my own...I think it took me like 4 hours to do.
-Hitting tennis balls off of our neighbors wall (I did this for hours!)
-Getting into fights with neighborhood friends...particularly with Todd Bratcher (dang I wonder what he's doing these days?)
-Riding bikes on dirt trails all over our neighborhood
-I remember the first time we took Bryan to mom and dad's...
-Lots of heart to heart conversations with mom and dad
-Many naps on the hammock under the deck...the worlds best hammock!
-Dad making some of the hottest fires in the buck stove! On those cold winter days it was awesome...sometimes it was too hot.
-Announcing our engagement to mom and dad
-Christmas was always great in our home...
-I remember the last conversation I had with my dad before he died...I had dropped Bryan off to stay with them for the weekend. Dad and I talked in the hallway, he was sitting on the stairs, we talked, what seemed to be, about everything...even death and heaven. I left and headed back to Richmond...when I got back my sister called me to tell me dad had died. Good and bad day all rolled up in one.

I know I'm missing some really big things, but these were the things off the cuff. Mom closed on the house yesterday and is moved into her new place. I'm glad that she is where she is...I have great peace of mind that Jim and Lisa are right next door.

We are a tight knit family and I wouldn't trade any of these memories for nothing...we've got many more to make, it will now be done in a new place and home.