Letting the old house go
The fire worked.
You might remember about a month ago I shared how the house I lived in for 25 years was for sale. There’s no question that Husband and I are full time at this remote coastal marsh. We get to the big city less and less. Selling it would provide the added bonus of getting our younger daughter up and out. Free rent has turned out to be a little too cushy for her. It’s time for her to make her way in the world.
And so, we put the house up for sale, only to get no offers.
I decided I was the problem. I wasn’t truly ready to let her go.
Only I was.
So, I wrote her a letter of gratitude and made a bonfire. Throwing the letter into the fire, I let her go.
“I can’t explain it,” our realtor said two days later. “We suddenly are flooded with potential buyers wanting to see the house.”
It was one of those lookiloos who finally bit.
They are a young couple. First-time homebuyers. They plan to do all the updates and repairs this almost 100-year-old treasure so desperately needs.
Which leads me to this moment. This filthy moment. Well, the moment isn’t filthy. I am.
I’ve come up to the big city to clear out the house. In some ways it’s an easy job. Anything that hasn’t made its way to the marsh in the last three years isn’t going now.
It’s still a ton of work, sorting trash from donation to consignment.
And then there’s this. 25 years of memories. My gosh, saying, “Goodbye,” is messy work, is it not, Dear Reader?
This was my single-girl house. Somehow, it ended up also being our family house. Small by the standards many raise their children in today.
One tiny bathroom for the girls to share. How they got through their teenage years without a single fight still boggles the mind.
I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for this house. I took the requisite buyer’s inspection personally. Why go looking for flaws in a home so magnificent?
I wish I could hug my arms around her.
Thank you for your shelter, your respite, your comfort, your parties. Even during those sad times, did you always know everything was going to be okay?
I’m ready for this next couple to have their turn.
Though I already have stalker dreams of knocking on their door in a year or so to see what they will have done.
Can you have an open adoption with a house? Sadly, it doesn’t sound like the buyers are into the idea.
I sent a message through our realtors asking if they wanted some shelving in the basement or the extra fridge.
“Clear every last item,”
Nikola Tesla announces he has perfected a system of transmitting power without wires on March 8.
The United States Supreme court issues a ruling on March 10 that upholds a New York state statute banning late-night working for women.
On March 11, cabaret singer Belva Gaertner is arrested for the murder of her lover, Walter Law, in Chicago. Law was found dead from a bullet wound in Gaertner’s car, though Gaertner is later acquitted of the murder. The incident inspires both the 1926 Broadway play “Chicago” and the 1975 musical of the same name.
The opening session of the first-ever Egyptian constitutional parliament is opened by King Fuad I on March 15.
Winston Churchill loses the Westminster Abbey by-election by 43 votes to Otho Nicholson on March 19. The results come when Churchill requests a recount after initially losing by just 33 votes.
The Eugenical Sterilization Act goes into effect in Virginia on March 20.
The act provides for the sterilization of individuals in mental institutions.
Edward G. Leffler introduces the first modern mutual fund on March 21.
The Massachusetts Investors Trust allows investors to withdraw their account money at any time.
Benito Mussolini presides over a Fascist parade in Rome on March 23. Mussolini uses his speech as a chance to campaign for the coming general election.
The Greek Parliament votes to depose King George II on March 25. A public referendum for the issue is set for April 13.
French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré abruptly resigns after his government suffers a surprising defeat on March 26. In a vote in the Chamber of Deputies, Poincaré and his government are defeated 271 to 264, all while the Prime Minister was not even present. Poincaré accepts President Alexandre Millerand’s request to form a new government on March 27.
United States Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty resigns over the Teapot Dome Scandal on March 28.
The Teapot Dome Scandal was a bribery scandal that enveloped the administration of U.S. President Warren G. Harding, and since 1924 has often been cited when new issues affecting the office of the president, such as Watergate, have surfaced.