This week we moved from the camper into the motorhome. On Monday I started moving things over, and even though we don’t have tons of stuff, by evening I was only about half done. That was frustrating because neither place had everything we needed to live. Tuesday we got the rest moved over, and I told Andy, ‘You know, home is where the people are, but it’s also where your stuff is!’ It’s true! The motorhome didn’t feel like home until we were all moved in, and now that the camper is empty, it is only a shell full of memories. I feel like I haven’t had time to completely process leaving our old home, but Andy put it very well in an email he wrote.
I went up to the empty shell of our house and said goodbye for a while. It was as if I could hear Gabe squealing in delight as I chased him again, and the joyous moments of our first home as newlyweds, and all the good memories that we made. It’s like Tabitha said, “We’ll never have our first home as newlyweds again.” A profound statement, and one worth pondering and feeling over. It struck me that while we are happy to go make new memories, we need to cherish the memories of the past and the joy of our happiest moments. We have been there for three years, and they have been happy years. We’ve had a large garden, I’ve had to keep after the camper’s maintenance needs, and we have had a lot of secluded happiness up there where where we started our married life. Gabe started his life there and started walking. We started our marriage there and got a good foundation laid. Jasmine came into the world and called that her first home. May our next home be just as happy, fulfilling, and good as the humble little camper that we have so many good memories in. God has blessed us abundantly there, and if he continues to bless us, as I’m sure He will, we have nothing to fear and everything to gain.
Andy
I think that pretty much sums it up. As excited about moving to Alaska as we are, there is also some sadness over what we are leaving behind.