The Armoire

Yesterday we moved Aunt Lula Mae's armoire. It was a daunting task, one that I had dreaded for several years, but with the help of Georgia and James, we disassembled it, loaded it, then re-assembled it here, with the added help of James' dad. I had actually lost sleep fretting over this move, and I'm not used to it in my bedroom yet but it is home.

It is odd, but it has an almost human presence here. I'm sure it is due to the sheer size of it, yet it stands waiting to be filled with my bits and pieces of life, as it served Aunt Lula Mae for all these years. In my early years, it contained the creative bits, with scraps and fabric carefully folded, rolled, and tied. In later years, it was the depository for remembrances, for gifts rarely used, and for things "that may be needed someday".

It also brings to mind, for me anyway, a sense of connection to church. I think it is because of the classic design that evokes a feeling of old church buildings. The stately nature of the old designs are echoed in the furniture's design. It is a good feeling, a connection to heritage kind of feeling.

++++

In other changes, we have moved, we have changed churches (also denomination), the only big change not made is retirement. More on that later.

Another Change, New Home!

A major change is now on the way, moving from our home of 36 years to another home. In part, we are downsizing, in part we are moving closer to family, and in part we are moving because most of the things we do are across town, but it is an odd feeling.

Along with the odd feeling, there is a overwhelming feeling of awe. We have long admired the homes in the new neighborhood, especially in the past twenty years since I taught school over there. When the kids chose to buy there, the admiration grew, along with a feeling of discontent about having to drive twenty minutes to arrive over there. Last year, when we began to look a little, it still felt right, although we had some requirements for the new house.

The list of requirements that the new place needed to fill was varied and perhaps a bit odd, along with things I thought "would be a nice touch" . We wanted a front porch. We needed a fenced-in backyard. We needed at least two bathrooms, and at least one with a bathtub. We wanted wood flooring. We wanted a separate place for the washer and dryer. We needed a place for the freezer. The cats needed a place for litterboxes. We needed lots of storage. We needed it to be a comparable price to our current home. We thought it would be nice to have a separate room so we would be able to make it into an apartment of sorts. And, most important of all, it needed to feel like home, and we would know and recognize it immediately.

When we saw the pictures on the web, it didn't show as particularly impressive. The colors looked grayish, and it was hard to identify what room was which. However, when we walked in the door, we saw requirement after requirement being met, along with the "nice touches" to boot. We made an offer that afternoon, and now we are knee-deep in changing our address.