Thursday, May 5, 2011

Peace - that was the other name for home. ~ Kathleen Norris

Isn't it amazing how quickly the unfamiliar becomes familiar?  How we humans adapt so quickly to new surroundings...how quickly we want to make ourselves at 'home'?  We don't like it when routines get messed around with.  We don't like unexpected changes in plans.  We don't like change, period.  We like being in our comfort zones.  Change makes us irritable.  Anxious.  Unsettled and uncertain.

It was two months ago today that my son, daughter, two grandsons and I caught our flight from Portland and soared off into the skies for Detroit.  Two months.  I have no idea where that time has gone to.  Already it feels like our life there was the beginning of a book whose ending I don't know yet...I've moved on to the next chapter.  And even tho I remember what I've already read, I'm turning new pages in anticipation of finding what the Writer has planned for me on the dawning of each new day.

For example...this is a picture of our dining area at 6:30 this morning.  The sun was streaming thru the doors in such a way I had to capture it.  For the moment.  It proved to be a perfect spring day here in Michigan.  I received an email from someone in Portland this morning telling me it was raining there.  And it seemed so far away.  Off in the past somewhere.  It doesn't affect me any more.

It is the strangest sensation.

I am more here than there now.  This is where I will most likely live out the rest of my days.  I will most likely be buried here.  I am 2/3 of the way back to my ancestral roots in New England.  If I live so long, this is where I'll watch my grandchildren grow up.  And, if they have any memories of the Northwest, they'll be sketchy at best.  They probably won't remember the marathon walks we took all over southeast Portland.  They won't remember the visits to the fire station or the names of the garbage and recycling men.  They won't remember Kim the pizza lady or Roger the mailman.  Or what our house looked like.  Or theirs.  Their memories will be made here.

The day we signed the papers to close our mortgage the son who was the executor of his father's estate was there also.  A very nice gentleman. He had grown up in our house, along with his two brothers.  And as we finished signing the dozens of documents he came over and shook our hands and told us, "I want  you to know that house is full of all kinds of happy memories.  And I hope it will be full of happy memories for you as well."

What a lovely blessing, to be told that by someone who'd lived here before us.  I felt it the moment I walked into this house for the first time in January...that this was to be my new home.  And I could feel the peacefulness here, the 'good vibes' if you will.  And in these two short months, it is home.

As we turned down our street Sunday evening after spending the day in Kitchener, Ontario, I felt an emotion sweep over me.  And I knew exactly what it was.

It felt good to come home.

6 comments:

Judy said...

Wow. Just wow.
Welcome HOME!

Pam said...

It's amazing to me how quickly you have adapted to your new home and left Oregon in the past. Truly amazing. I'm so happy for you. I wish you many years of happy memories in your new home.

Rob-bear said...

Wow! You're really fitting in. We're a bit behind you, timewise, but the Bears' new den is shaping up. The right move at the right time.

Kitchener! A suburb of Waterloo, where I started university in 1963. Hope you had a grand time north of the border.

Unknown said...

I think of you often and how your adjusting to your new home! Excited for updates and photos of new beginnings so far away :)

Sandy said...

What a beautiful expression of your comfort in your new home.

Anonymous said...

You are blessed to 'live in the now'!