An Open Letter To The New Residents Of My Childhood Home
The house that you are currently moving into might seem empty to you but was full of life and love for me. That house was more than just a house to me. It was my home- from the happy start to the sad end.
The banister in the foyer is a little loose from my 5-year-old self swinging on it to look out the window at the top of the door because I wasn’t tall enough to see when my mom was coming home. So when you wonder, just remember that it had a purpose. When you’re in the living room, don’t forget to embrace every moment because that room is where some of the most important moments of my life happened. Embrace the excited Christmas mornings with the tree in front of the window for the whole neighborhood to see or the sad moments and deep conversations that will make your family closer. Don’t forget to spend time with your kids in there like my mom did, set up the entire floor with a Barbie paradise, drink coffee and watch Gilmore girls or even just tell each other, “I love you” more. That room had a past full of life so please continue it.
The markings on the wall between the kitchen and dining room just might look like lines and numbers to you, but they are so much more, so before you paint them over just please look at the difference between the top and bottom line because you don’t realize it, but that difference was my childhood. My childhood was something great, so please just think about it before you paint it over and make your new lines.
When you walk into my old bedroom, please just take a moment to admire the paintings by a 10-year-old me on the wall. I know you won’t want to keep neon butterflies and dragonflies up on your wall, but just think about what this room must have meant for that 10-year-old when she painted it. That room was my safe haven. That room was where I did my homework and watched too much America’s Next Top Model. But that room was also where I had sleepovers with my best friend and where I cried myself to sleep thinking about the reason why I would have to pack up everything and leave.
As I move out, and eventually on, from the house that built me, I realized that it was meant for you and your new family. You were meant to experience all the happiness that that home blessed me with. I may no longer be in the physical space, but that house will always have a place in my heart. I hope as you settle in that you find yourself with as much joy as I did living there.
