new memories
I haven’t written a blog post in ages. To confess, I have felt so overwhelmed by life lately that I haven’t known where to start for a blog post. I’ve been having trouble sorting out my thoughts and feelings and struggling with seeing all of these experiences in any sort of a positive light, so I probably would have ended up rambling and venting for pages and pages.
But today was a big deal and it deserves a blog resurrection.
Today we closed on our new (to us) house. A major milestone in our efforts to settle in, it has been a nightmare along the way. As I mentioned in past posts we’ve had a difficult transition between insurance claims on the house we were selling, and a flood in our storage unit with all of our belongings in it… well, the process of purchasing this home has been no exception. The sellers have been total jerks all along the way, money we wired from one bank account to another was lost for weeks, and, well, I could go on…
But today we got the key to our house. A new place for us to make memories and plant roots.
I took Mitzi on a walk by the house this morning and realized that while I will always miss my bench down by the lake in Seattle, when I look past all the ice and snow here (yes, it’s the end of March and still 100% winter) there are benches and a pond 2 minutes from our house here too. There are no sailboats on this “lake” and no mountains in the background, but if I’m looking for a beautiful place to sit and think, it will definitely work.
We got the key (not without some drama) and went to the house later in the day to check it out (and to make sure the key actually worked) and finally, after months of caution and skepticism, allowed ourselves to get excited. We decided to bring Mitzi with us because we knew just how hilarious it would be to watch her explore the house for the first time (she did not disappoint).
I went to open the front door and Navin took a step back to snap a picture and capture the moment… and in that moment, he tripped over a step and fell backwards onto the driveway. Like…really fell.
Don’t worry, he’s fine and was more concerned about the scratch on his phone than any damage to himself. “Great,” I said, “our house hates us”. Later in the day Navin said something about the symbolism of his fall. Honestly, I don’t know… We’re so worn down right now that it would be really easy to read into the irony of him falling during that happy moment, and lump it together with everything else that’s gone wrong for us lately.
Here’s how I’m choosing to see it:
This house has not been treated well for the past few years, and yes, it might hate us right now… but once we show it a little love, maybe it will love us back
If falling down is symbolic, maybe it’s a symbol of hitting bottom after a series of difficult events and really bad luck, and our luck will be turning around from here on… or a lesson in the importance of getting back up again
Mostly, even though it’s only a few hours later, I am already replaying that moment in my head and every time I remember it, it gets a little less upsetting and a lot more hilarious (sorry Navin). It’s more likely that it’s just a really memorable (and a little bit upsetting, and a lot hilarious) first experience as owners of this house
So tonight we celebrate getting possession of our new house, and I’m raising my glass to new memories: of Mitzi running frantically from room to room, of Navin’s ironic fall, and of many many more to come… Cheers!