People have been coming in and out of our house in Oak Park for several months now while we waited for a buyer.   Receiving feedback on a home you know and love is nothing short of horrible. We actually had someone tell us our home was “too prairie style” for their taste. I wondered where they thought they were.

This process has taught us several things. One is, the stuff we have accumulated and thought was valuable and amazing is actually not. The other thing is about why we really loved our home. It is not the oak trim, the screened porch, the garden, the fireplace, or the location, although these were wonderful.  It is all the life events that occurred there, this is why we fell in love. It is the photos taken before the first day of school and homecoming dances, the party Brigid had in the backyard where the whole sophomore class showed up. It is laughter spilling from Emma’s room where a group of girls have gathered to sleep over. It is many pairs of shoes left by the door, dog hair floating under furniture, creaky stairs, and an attic full of stuff. It is holidays around the dining room table with guests taking turns reading Plum Pudding for Christmas. It is a box of Irish dance shoes, a doll buggy and a random beer in a dresser drawer. It is a prom dress, varsity letters, and a rocking horse. This is the lovely messiness of our life and we cherish it and we take it all with us.