It took me by surprise when I shut the garage door and prepared to leave the house for the last time. I sat in the driveway, crying. I called my husband, but he was in a meeting. So I sat and cried. We loved this home where we’d lived for the past five years. With our wedding in the backyard less than a month after we moved in, we began our marriage in the large house with a flat yard for my husband’s garden.
Love and produce blossomed and bloomed in this house. We didn’t sell the house because we hated living there; we sold it because the time had come for it to be used by a family big enough to fill its spaces.
And so this week after months of preparation and packing, the place stood empty, but not vacant. The walls echoed with the sound of our laughter and waited to embrace the young couple who bought it.
I cried again at the closing. Not tears of sadness, but of happiness for the family about to make it theirs. Two young folks with a five- and two-year old and another baby on the way in September, excitedly signed the papers turning it over to them. Their young sons played on the floor behind us, unaware of the momentous event occurring for their parents who were buying their first home.
“You know why we bought this house that was far too big for us?” I asked the couple as we signed papers. “It had a flat yard for the garden.”
“That’s my favorite part, too,” the woman said.
I wish them abundance, laughter, and love in this home that embraced us in its loving arms.
We left green tomatoes on the vine, peas bursting from pods, and onions peeking up from the earth. It feels good to walk away knowing we nurtured the land and left it better than we found it.
We move forward in a cabin that is much, much smaller and with no flat land. We’ve packed the pick-ax and boards for terracing a mountainside garden. Wish us luck!
I gave the couple an autographed copy of From Seed to Table and two of my novels written in this house. This home proved fruitful for both vegetables and words.
Living Lightly 
That was a well-loved house! Your garden is absolutely beautiful. It’s wonderful that the new family appreciates it. Good luck with your move to the cabin.
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Yes, it was well loved, and I’m confidant it will continue to be well loved.
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Best of luck. With a love like yours, you’ll be happy anywhere, I’m sure 🙂
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Home is wherever we are! But a beautiful setting doesn’t hurt (as I’m sure you’re discovering!).
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Oh, PC! I know I haven’t been around in so very long, but this little post, with its significant content, popped up on my my phone tonight and I wanted to send you a virtual hug.
I know it must be hard, but I’m so happy for you. The couple you’ve sold to reminds me of my own little family, just starting out. We bought our house from a family who’s children had grown, and there we were, with a toddler and one ready to pop. It had become too big for them with their two kids moving on and now we, in turn, have filled it with three. We have loved this house and thought of that couple often, ever grateful for the connection we shared with them. I know your couple will do the same.
“The Cabin” sounds like a new chapter and I have no doubt you’ll bother prosper there. I wish you the best of times and lots of good luck with your future endeavors…especially that terraced garden!
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Hazy, I’ve missed you, but so glad you stopped by to read this milestone post. As I cleaned each empty room last week, I kept thinking of the children who would roam its floors, growing into adulthood. We bought it from the original owners who lived there 25 years and raised their kids in the home. I keep thinking we came to hold a place for this new family who could very well live there 25-30 years as well. Nice feeling.
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A new adventure and new books (?) Hey, a girl can hope. Your love shines through your writing. Best of luck in your new abode. 💖
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Yes to both! I look forward to the days coming up when the cabin will serve as my writing retreat. Soon. Very soon.
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Happy to hear that. Hang on. It’s coming. 💖
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Sounds like the cabin projects will provide blog fodder for you. Good luck with your new start. We’re going to get out to see you on one of our trips southeast.
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Great! We look forward to the visit.
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Farewell to the old place. What a moment to remember. Best of luck to you, Pat, for a new beginning!
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Thanks, Uvi. I keep reminding myself it’s a grand adventure.
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What a lovely concept. Yes, you were meant to live in that spacious home and to prepare it for the new family. You were chosen! Now you can pour yourselves into your new home and garden, knowing your work for the new family is well done. Thank you for sharing your story.
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Thank you for stopping by. We imagined it, and it came true. Now for imagining me sitting in my cabin on the mountaintop writing the next great American novel!
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After reading a couple of your novels, P.C., I feel as though I am moving out of this wonderful house of yours as well. Especially your descriptions of the garden – we all have to leave places behind and your reasons make so much sense. But all of a sudden, I feel a bit teary, too.
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Awww – thank you, Francis. It’s how I felt when I finished reading your last novel!
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I so understand. With each move Brian and I have made over the years I feel like I left a little of myself behind, but I also took a piece of each place with me. The cabin sounds fantastic and remember no matter where the garden is, the plants will always reach up! Looking forward to seeing pictures soon.
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Thanks, Kathy! That’s a wonderful thing to remember. Maybe you’ll stop by on one of your Florida to Michigan trips!
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It is almost like leaving a beloved pet behind when you have to leave a garden mid-season. When you have a moment, let me know what you are up to. Sounds like quite a change. Wishing you only the best.
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Hello, Christina. Yes, we’re in the throes of transition and attempting to do it gracefully despite the challenges. Yesterday, my husband bought two tomato plants at Lowes even though we have no garden space yet. I’m surprised he isn’t going through more withdrawal but we’re a little too busy for it! Hope you’re well, Christina.
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