Our lives are constantly filled with hellos and goodbyes. I don't mean the polite daily greetings among our friends and acquaintances but the comings and goings of people in our life. Our little house has seen a constant shift of friends moving through and leaving for far away places. The friends who came to our house graced us with their friendship and left for parts of the world far from our borders. Their presence is still felt here. This house is filled with memories of little Linde Taghon playing the piano with her best friend Sophie. Now she's in Belgium and has forgotten all of her English and the hours she spent in our backyard painting the patio and her face green and yellow. We had a going away dinner for our friends Kim and Tom when they left Caltech to go back to Belgium. The ten of us dining alfresco on the patio until late in the summer night ; sharing stories and laughing until we cried. Then there are memories of Melissa and Joe and their two little boys, who we saw almost daily. Our four kids dashing madly about the backyard, playing knights and dragons with their cardboard swords and shields. Oliver and Sophie in their flying capes and absolute devotion to one another. Little toddlers Simon and Holly trying to catch up with their older siblings. The countless hours I spent with Melissa sharing life stories and laughter leave me a wiser, happier person. I miss her brilliance, wisdom and friendship. The house seemed still and silent for many months when they left for Maine.
We had many happy memories in this little house of ours. Seven years of living and the one constant is the joy and happiness that we had in this house. I have been saying goodbye to our neighbors and mostly the garden itself. My house and garden was a labor of love. It has been emotional going through the garden, seeing all the beautiful plantings that took years to reach maturity. The yard was a barren mess of dead grass and dog droppings when we moved in and now it's an oasis of beauty and tranquility. We have been napping on our patio and reminiscing about our lives here. The girls have lived here most of their lives, creating special nooks in our garden. Creating fairy tales and dream lands from twigs and branches and rocks and shells from our travels. I'll miss this special time in their lives, free from care and full of invention and frolic. Mostly, I'll miss my garden and the joy I gathered everyday from it.
As we prepare to leave this place, we take with us our most treasured possessions, the memories of the friends who have shared this place with us.
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