Goodbye Old House; Hello New Home!

                                      Our Old House

"It's over" , my husband said when I got home after I turned over our former home to the new owner.

"No regrets", I silently told myself.  "The house is just a shell now.  It's a blessing in disguise actually; we are in a better place".

Earlier at dawn, over coffee before my morning walk, I tried to look deep in my heart about letting go of our house of 38 years.  I knew that I'm giving up the house today. 

"How do you feel about this?"

I asked myself;  I was surprised that I had no qualms going about it.  In fact, while I was driving over to the house later, it  even occurred to me that the buyer may back out after the deal has been sealed;  that got me a bit worried there. 

Two days ago when I iMessage my younger daughter that we were about to turn over the house, she asked:

"How do you and dad feel?"

I guessed that she was a bit concerned and she wanted to know whether we still hold the same sentiments about the house; and if that was so, I assumed that she wanted to help us make things a bit easier; a little moral support maybe, like comforting words that: 

"everything will be fine, you'll see".  

She and her siblings know that we planned to stay in that house forever until circumstances made us move out. 

"After everything that happened,  and after we removed our valuable stuff; it became just a house, besides the village is too busy now so 'there's no love lost' ", I sent back. 

"I agree", she replied with a smile. 

And it's true; actually I'm also surprised that letting go was that easy.  

In the process of packing up our belongings some months ago,  I was filled with a deep sadness, I was crying, emotions and disbelief consumed me, I almost couldn't breathe.  For days, I was moving around on autopilot, often feeling sorry for myself;  I couldn't fathom why we had to move out of that house.  But I had to accept the situation, 

"My Lord", I prayed, "if this is Your will, so be it; I believe that Your plans are better than our dreams".

Eventually, we were out of the storm, able to see the rainbow, and found our way back to normal again.  Looking back, I know that it was the constant love and unconditional support of our children that got us through.  Getting settled and fixing the new home was the exact therapy that consoled us, a distraction that helped us get on with our lives.  

Today, when I turned over our former home, I thought that it would be a difficult and sad day for me; on the contrary I felt relieved.   Was looking after the house a burden especially that we now live in another place quite farther away?  Is it about leaving behind the baggage of our earlier lives?  Is it because we believe that when a door closes, another will be opened?   I think it's all of the above and more. 

When I handed over the keys, I said to the new owner: 

"Please take care of this house, it has served us well".  

And to the house I said a silent: 

"Thank you for providing a haven for our family".

I wont deny that we had been happy there regardless life's ups and downs; we have lots of great memories especially in the early days when our children were very young and most especially these last ten years.  Now that they are all grown up, having their own families, I can still keep the memories, sans the house.  

As my older daughter said:

"Mom, we can make lots of new memories in your new home."  

And I believe her.  For the last nine months, we already spent happy times here, there was my 70th birthday in July when all my children and their families were here, then last Christmas was one of the best Christmases I ever had.  So, yes!  We started making great memories again. 

We are happy in this new home, everyday after a whole morning at my store, oftentimes tired and hungry, I feel invigorated as soon as I enter the village gate; a sense of peace and serenity never fail to engulf me. 

The "icing of the cake" is our edible backyard garden.  It is something that we wanted for the longest time.  It has become our preoccupation, giving us so much joy and peace and renewed energy.  Growing old here will be great. 

Hello new home!

One Of The Best Christmases Ever!

It's a rainy new year!

It looks gloomy and sad, it seems to tell me that the season's celebration is over.

My friend in Winnipeg who greeted me "happy  holidays" commented of Facebook:

"I enjoy reading your blogs, Rita, it is good food for our snow-affected thoughts";

Just like my friend who seemed okay with snow, the rain couldn't dampen my spirit as well, not after spending one of the best Christmases I ever had.   It was really great, but I also missed my younger daughter and her husband who couldn't come home for the holidays.  Had they been here, I'd say it would have been perfect.  But really; does "perfect" ever happen in this "vale of tears"? 

The weekend before Christmas

My celebration started with breakfast on Friday.  My son, who was here on business called:

"Mom, I'm free for breakfast, would you and dad like to come join me at Shangrila near my office?"  

He knows that we rarely go to the  city's business district since we can get everything we need in the malls around here at the south of the metro. 

"That is if you only like, have a change of scene.", my son continued. 

I looked at my husband who can hear the conversation on speaker phone and he nodded.

"Of course, we'd love too, and your sister here is free to join us", I replied. 

"And I won't go back home anymore, I'll wait for my family to join me here on Sunday night,  I'll spend the weekend with you until they get here", he said further.

We then had a sumptuous breakfast at Circles, one of Shangrila's restaurants.  But what I enjoyed more was catching up with our son and listening to him and our older daughter sparring jokes like they used to when they were younger. When my children get together and talk about things of days gone by,  I'm besieged with hundreds of long-ago memories that I always treasure.

Like most hotels, Shangrila had their lobby all dressed up for the holidays so we took pictures while waiting for my son to join us. 

We spent the whole weekend with our son, just talking, eating, reading and whatever we felt like doing.  Luckily, our older daughter was free to join us in most of our meals.  It rained the whole weekend but we enjoyed it nonetheless.  

 I asked what he wanted to eat, I know he is tired of hotel and airplane food,  he travels the world often and fly from one Asia-Pacific city to another almost week after week.  My husband and I gladly prepared the food he said he misses most. 

I know he is a very busy person and I wanted to know how he is coping. 

"Don't you ever get tired flying and getting bored as you wait for your flights?", I asked.

"No", he said, "I'm at the lounge doing my work".

"What?", I asked myself, "doesn't he ever stop working?"

We also had fun deciding what food to prepare for Christmas Eve;  we wanted something light since we have been eating much that weekend.  Besides, we do not believe in having a Christmas table over-flowing with food. 

"We must have a theme so it's easy to come up with a menu", my son said. 

We couldn't have lechon (roast pig), nor broiled tuna nor crabs; we already had those earlier. 

Definitely Filipino food was out.  Japanese food was an option but it was over-ruled.  We considered what my daughter-in-law likes since she is just about to join us.  We know that she loves Mexican food.  Everyone love tacos, so we had soft wrap and crunchy shells and corn chips.  We also dipped hard roll on callos and gambas  and included baked mussels and of course, the traditional Chinese ham and queso de bola.   Paella was too heavy, we decided to do that another day. 

What do most people say when things are great?   Ahh,

"if this is a dream, I hope I'll never wake up".  So if I was dreaming, I was glad nobody told me for I didn't want to wake up.  

........and time really flies when you're having fun... who knows when this will happen again?

My grandchildren 

When my grandson arrived, we were ready for him. We brought out toys my granddaughter had when she was younger.  My grandson latched on the toy car immediately even though it seemed too small for him; he has bigger rides back home, but I'm glad he liked it just the same.

Give children Lego and you'll never go wrong

Small cars to push seem interesting to them as well. 

Our grandson who is 20 months old recently joined a toddler class back home, having attended only five days so far, he is learning to interact with others, something he is not used to, being an only child.   He is reluctant to be carried by others.  But like the day we last saw him in November when we visited; he finally let me carry him to the car so these  pictures were possible. 

My granddaughter is alone as well but has always looked forward to bond with her cousin every chance she had.   Below are some pictures of them doing that familiar kindergarten song:

"My toes.......

......my knees.....

..my shoulders, my head".

And "high five", too.

I couldn't ask for anything better this Christmas; a well-spent holiday season, and I know I wasn't dreaming for I have all the pictures in my Dropbox and stored all the wonderful times in my memory playlist. 

 

What about you, did you have an amazing Christmas as well?  If you are in your golden years you'd appreciate Christmas like the way I've had; no glitter of tinsel nor nicely wrapped gifts nor the colorful fireworks on New Year's Eve  could compare. 

Happy new year!