I’ve only 4 more nights left to sleep in a house that has been my second skin. I’ve lived in my fair share of abodes, but this is the one since childhood where, since becoming a Mum, I’ve spent the most time cloistered within its fold. It’s why it will be hard to say goodbye.

The night we accepted an offer to sell it though, I was ecstatic. Someone else loved our home as much as we! Not only that but it removed the financial stress of keeping up a mortgage while we paid rent after our move. But as I sat in my usual spot in my favourite room in the house that evening, a sadness settled over me. This was the only home my son remembered (he was too young to remember the unit in Sydney) and the place we bought my daughter home from hospital in.  It was the environment where I rediscovered my writing prowess and passion, and the house where I conquered my fears of being alone.

But late into that same evening as I did the rounds of locking up securely for the long night ahead, once again home alone and the sole person responsible for the safety of my family, the only adult on hand should any crisis arise, I let out a relieved sigh. My tenure of being the mostly solo caretaker was almost over. Soon, we’d be a team again, a family again, not jigsaw puzzle pieces who only fit together on occasion.

As we tucked Master H into bed last night, he told us that while he was excited about the move (the new house has a pool, and backs onto a golf course!) he would also really miss his “real home”. And all excitement aside, I know the same is said for me.

Its by no means perfect, nor palatial (and I still suspect one room might just be haunted!) but I have loved calling this place home. Moving here 4 years before was to signal a “settling down” for this family, of putting down roots and letting them unfurl into the soil and bury themselves deep. It was to be our “20 year home”. But sometimes life has other ideas and you can’t pass up golden opportunities when the present themselves so rarely in life. Next in the chapter book of our lives is an adventure that we undertake as a team, and one that we know will be worth all the stress and anxiety this move will bring in the short term.

So, it’s just bricks and mortar, I know. And I know we aren’t leaving behind the memories; they are gently tucked away into a special storage place in my heart. Most importantly though, we still get to take away with us the most treasured contents this home has housed – our family. And wherever we all are together will always be “home”.

From this:

To this in 4 short years!