2009 Wrap Up

As the end of 2009 has come & gone, I wanted to record some thoughts about the major events of year, more so for myself, so I can look back upon this and remember.

My childhood home, sat "vacant" for a number of years, OK 3 1/2. It would be visited on a regular basis by my mother, and checked on every day by me. I know that I should have dealt with this years ago, but I had an attachment to this house and I couldn't bear to part with it. I even planned to retire there some day, as it was a small bungalow, in the perfect location: bus stop directly across the street; bank, church, pharmacy and grocery stores less than a block away. Life sometimes gives us a kick in the ass, and forces us to make a decision.

Over the summer, I had planted a garden there and it flourished, as it has always had magical soil. We harvested quite a bit of tomatoes, but one evening I had left about a bushel-full on the vines to ripen one more day. When I went the next day, the gate was open, and all the ripe tomatoes were gone...stolen.

Following the tomato incident, our front lawn became the dumping grounds for a large neighbourhood dog...we never really knew for sure who it was, but had a few suspicions.

Finally, on October 2nd, when I went to check on the house at lunchtime, I found the door open. Someone had broken in, smashing the rear bedroom window. Fortunately, this was the extent of the damage done, and the items stolen were minimal: a few bottles of alcohol-Courvoisier and Sambuca; some loonies & twonies; and a few pieces of costume jewellery. We, of course, felt violated, and decided that we had to do something.

Renting it out was not an option, as this would carry its own set of burdens, that we/I didn't want to take on. We decided to put it up for sale. It was listed on October 15th, a deal was struck on November 6th, and the house sold on December 7th.

It was physically and emotionally exhausting to empty that house, and sort & pack everything up. Fortunately, I had the help of a few good friends....forget the family, they were MIA, unless we called them and offered to give them something from the house.

My basement now is full of boxes and tote bins...I haven't gotten around to organizing the goods that were moved over. My goal is to do this over the winter, and have a garage sale in the spring.

I am still mourning the loss of the house, and find it traumatic to drive by it. I had to go there to pick something up, and the new owner invited me in to see the changes he had made. The changes were lovely and updated the living room, but I wished I hadn't gone it....it took me a few days to get over the pain.

My dreams are full of being in the house.

While my mind knows the decision was right, I hope that it won't be too long, before I am accustomed to it.

So now, my mother's "roommate" status has been made official, along with my status as "chief caregiver, cook and bottlewasher"

We'll take one day at a time, and hope that 2010 is healthy, happy and prosperous for all.