Thursday, May 8, 2008

Home Sweet Home!



It's Thursday afternoon at 3:36 pm and I'm crying. Not because I'm having a bad hair day, not because I'm dreading swimsuit season and not because of Eight Belles.

I'm crying because of this.


This my friends, is the house that I grew up in. The house that tomorrow morning will be for sale in Wimberley, Texas.

This was the house that my parents bought when we moved back from Tennessee. I was 4 years old. We all grew up in this house.

There is the porch where I took my First Day of Kindergarten pictures, Prom Pictures and the steps where I heard over the phone that Mindy was pregnant with Jack.

This house has the bedroom that started white, went to pink, Hunter Green (I had to fight my parents for this design decision (my polo phase)~ I won...they liked it) before my parents took the empty nest syndrome a little to serious and turned my old bedroom into an office my freshman year in college. (I don't really blame them I was a total terd the last few years of high school)The walls that held Teen Bop posters, where homeade tapes were made and hours upon hours of listening to Richard Marx and George Michael. Where I was asleep when my dad came and woke me up, to tell me that my Mammo had passed away when I was 13 years old. Where I kept all of my secrets and dreams growing up and anything smaller than a car could get lost.

There is the living room where I practiced my Mary Lou Retton routines, waited for Santa to come, had slumber party birthdays and watched Simon & Simon (cue theme song), Dukes of Hazzard and Hee Haw for days and days hours and hours on a tv without satellite, cable or a remote control. (barefoot.in the snow. uphill. both ways.)

This has the kitchen where I first learned to cook meals and clean up my messes, where I consumed pounds and pounds of queso, where my mother always cooked our favorite birthday meals and served them on the table where presents were always sitting at your spot when you woke up that morning.

This has the family room that my parents added on once I got older so that I would not keep them up all hours on the weekends giggling with my girlfriends, watching movies, and talking on the phone. Where more time was spent lounging on the floor than sitting on the furniture and where you could see all of the coming and goings of the neighbors.

This house lives on a cul-de-sac where my first serious boyfriend broke up with me, where I learned that if you put the car in neutral and pushed it a little it would roll all the way to the end of the road where you could start it and your chances of your parents hearing where less. Where I walked who knows how many miles back and forth to the neighbors house.

There is the front yard where I learned to perfect my jump shot, practice my free throws and how to drive a riding lawnmower. Where I've always wondered if aliens landed at some point because their are "patches" where grass will just NOT grow.

There is the back yard where Boudreaux Spaghetto (my first dog ~ a bassett hound) lived and escaped from, where I could lay out all the days of summer, where we took pictures for Rush at Texas Tech. The deck that my parents threw my graduation party on hours after I was the most complete ass to them and where we sat 13 years later and drank it up told Channa the joys of marriage at her bachelorette party in March.

The floors that endured spilled nail polish, cowboy boots when it was time to go dancing, food, high heels when it was prom and stinky feet when it was summer.

The house where I brought my friends home from Tech/Brownwood on the weekends.

Where our little family gathered for Holidays: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter.

The house where Rusty lived and ruled the roost for 15 years.

The house where I brought Chad home to meet my mom and dad. That held all of our wedding plans and paraphernalia in 2002.

The house that hugged my Babydoll until she passed in November, and where we have a picture of 4 generations after Ella Grace's birth.

5 Woodridge Circle (or 49 Woodridge as we fondly addressed it for years) is For Sale tomorrow. It's been thru a lot the past 27 years and it's been good to us. Me. Mom. Dad. If your looking for a house that has lived and been well loved and is happily located on a quiet, quaint little cul-de-sac in Wimberley, Texas then this just might be the place for you, I don't think that you can put a price on memories like these so trust me...You are getting a hell of a deal.

Be nice to her she's part of the family.

2 comments:

Meredith said...

Now I can't stop crying! I don't dare call until we can talk about this sensibly? (not going to happen)

You are my beautiful, special, perfect daughter and I love you so much. I am so glad that God picked you for Ella Grace. One day she will know and understand what a wonderful mother she has.

Thanks for the memories - no one could have put it better.

Love you MORE!
Mom

Anonymous said...

You have an amazing gift for writing! Have you ever considered journalism?????
Where are they moving?
I do understand your heartache. My mom sold the house I grew up in about 2 years ago. I was a mess. I no longer have a "home sweet home"...only memories!