And then it was all gone!

Wow. So this is it. I’m sitting in the basement on the red sectional sofa that we are leaving behind for Colt and Michelle. The movers just left and the house is now devoid of 98% of our personal belongings. As I stood looking into the “Pub” (the room with the fireplace and wet bar) a part of me strained to feel sadness and yet all I could feel was excitement that this new adventure is really beginning and gratitude to this wonderful old house for giving us shelter for 13 years. 

Don’t get me wrong. I have great sadness at leaving friends and family. I have splendid memories of gatherings here. This has been a fun house. We have held our Christmas party here every year for the past thirteen years, we’ve had three wedding receptions here (and only one was a family member), we’ve had countless barbeques and girls nights and family home evenings…but as I look around the now empty rooms I am filled only with beautiful memories of our time in Nebraska. I am not filled with sadness. I think that when you leave something that was wonderful, you can leave with happiness because there are no regrets. We leave with happiness for what we had here. Being here in Nebraska was supposed to happen, but I think we can leave here happy because it has been so clear to us that this is what is supposed to happen now. This is Derek’s and my time!

Derek called on FaceTime a while ago and I showed him around the empty house and he showed me his graduation certificate from the Foreign Service Institute Training program. His graduation was today. I wish I could have been there, but I was busy doing this part.

Next week he has ‘crash bang training’. This is the counter threat class where he will be learning defensive driving, controlled skids, driving backward, jumping curbs, evasion and well…other stuff…

Ummm…if you happen to know my mother-in-law it might be best if you don’t mention this to her!

I am so excited that our son and his family are buying the house. It makes me happy that this house will still be in the family. I think it will make the transition easier for the grandkids. I am excited that they will also be able to make happy memories here. This is a friendly house, with a beautiful, warm personality. It has invited and welcomed so many. Sometimes I feel that it was the houses choice as much as ours to be constantly filled…but not in a creepy, horror movie kind of a way; more in a loving welcoming way.:-)

From here on things get exciting. The last three months have been a challenge. I’ve had injuries, illness, surgery. Financial challenges, emotional ones. Boy have there been emotional ones. Colt and Michelle have been around me a lot since moving into the house and they can attest to the fact that I will start crying if you so much as say thank you to me. Heck, I don’t even need a reason to start crying. And it’s so weird, because I’m happy!

Did I mention that we are planning on our first trip once we arrive being to New Delhi, India? I am checking off one of my biggest bucket list items! We will go to the Taj Mahal and I will get a picture of me standing right where my father stood sixty years ago. The possibilities for adventure are endless, but you know what? It turns out that is true no matter where you live, every day we all have the opportunity to have incredible adventures. As we leave here, I wish for all of my friends to have new and amazing adventures every day.

We love you all!