Transition
The packing has begun. After almost a year of the “trial” with assisted living, we finally have the thumbs up from my mom to sell their house. Thirty years ago they moved into their dream home.
The house before this was my childhood home. Today I remembered that move and in true Scandinavian fashion, we didn’t share any emotions about the sadness of leaving that home. After all, this new house was their palace and life was good.
A lifetime of memories are everywhere.
There are enough Christmas decorations to stock a store.
Some of my mom’s hand painted china that she did before getting married and starting a family.
The plants have not fared so well this past year.
Some interesting boxed sets of music on vinyl.
Then there is the small city of hundreds of Dept. 56 Dickens Village “collectables.”
I know they are in the place they need to be, but it is very sad that all they worked for their entire lives is slipping away. It is not an easy road for any of us.
2 Comments
Susan
December 4, 2014Oh man, this really is heartbreaking. Your last line, ” . . . all they worked for is slipping away” especially so. In some ways it’s something we all need to consider. The ‘stuff’ we all want will someday be ‘stuff’ no one wants or can use. (Remember that, Black Friday shoppers.) But at the same time all that stuff is imbued with memories — the vessels that hold our past. It’s so hard. Sad. Life is a sand mandala, beautiful, colorful and complex and then bit by bit, it drifts away.
Leslie
December 5, 2014“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.”
― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Terry, Even the more painful journeys of a human lifetime offer the opportunity to “grow” the wisdom, empathy and compassion that humanity needs to survive. We may not have all or any of the answers but it is imperative that we bear witness. Your images and words are focusing light on a crucial phase of the human journey. LAK