Home is where the heart is…

This week has been rather emotional as I helped my parents pack up 25 years and say goodbye to my childhood home. Sure I haven’t lived there now in over a decade, but it didn’t make locking the door on that happy home any easier. After days of packing, lifting and moving you would have thought we would have been glad to see the back of it, but as my mum and myself locked up for the last time, the both of us walked away with tears in our eyes.

We moved into the house when I was just 7 years old and boy was it a great house to grow up in. Its garden backed onto fields, which as a child I explored every inch and had lots adventures with my brother and friends and climbed many a tree (from which I have many a scar). I never hesitate at saying I had a great childhood. True we had problems like many families (broken home, money worries, loss of family members etc.) but when I think back to my time in that house I can only think of the good times. From a young girl the house saw me grow into a woman, from my first Barbie doll to my first love and then onto being my haven after my first big heartbreak. It also saw my journey from primary and secondary school, onto college and university and finally it welcomed me home after a long week at work.

The move hasn’t been all sad. As they say move onto bigger and better things, well in my parent’s case it’s actually smaller and better – a 2 bed new build with a back door which is easy for my elderly dog to get in and out more. I was worried about how our wee dog Cassie would manage the move but she seems to have settled well and loves her garden, it’s going to be pretty hard to get her to come in this summer! I did get my mum and dad some Jan de Vries Animal Emergency Essence – a Bach flower remedy for pets for Cassie and they added it to her water for a week before the move and will continue to use it for a few weeks until things had fully settled down. Whether this has help or she is just happy not to have to climb stairs several times a day I’m not sure – am just happy she is happy.

The one thing I did love though was the crazy stuff my parents found, especially when clearing out the loft. Not only was there a mammoth amount of Bunty & Mandy annuals (who else used to get one every year?) but there was so many teddies and the best find of all was a big box full of my old Nancy Drew books. I used to really want to be a police woman and was convinced I would be a great detective like Nancy (pity about my lack of height). I may even give a few of them a read before I pack them away again in my own loft (I don’t have the heart to give them away, took me too long to collect them).

So as they say, home is where the heart is (which I truly believe), and although we have closed the door on my childhood home, wherever my parents live I know I am always welcomed and loved there and I can always call it home, so here’s to many years ahead of creating more great memories in their new home.

Anyone else had to say goodbye to a childhood home? Or have you done a big clear out and found something you forgot all about? I would love to hear about it.

Annmarie xx