The End of An Era

As I closed and locked the door on my way out, my heart did a little flip flop, because I knew, we'd reached the end of an era.  And seeing this one emptied out and lonely was especially poignant, as so much LOVE went into fixing it up for Dixie.

When Dixie was brand newly divorced, she decided it was time to come home, to be near family for support, love, etc.  So, Lana and I were in Heaven with the idea of fixing up and making this apartment just beautiful and homey for our Dixie.  I could actually get emotional thinking about the amount of time, effort and help that went into it.  So many friends (many who didn't know Dixie at all, but were just loving and supportive of us)came and painted and cleaned and scraped and fixed.  Our friend Chris's brother got us these gorgeous Correon counter remnants for FREE and then installed them.  Chris found tile and backsplash and installed sinks.  It was all so exciting, and exhausting and time consuming to see this ugly, old place gain new life.  Just like Dixie was coming to get, new life.  We couldn't wait for it to be complete, to see the finished product and for her to get here.  Each new accomplishment, each newly painted wall, door, baseboard, cabinet repainted, newly installed tile, cleaned out backyard brought more anticipation.  And when the day FINALLY arrived, there was a welcome matt, flowers and a village of people to welcome her HOME!  And she filled it up, her and her three kids.  It was hard, the lack of space, the adjustment, but it was so worth it.  And she made it work for about 2 years longer than she ever expected to be in there.  But, her tenacity paid off, her patience was worth it, because now she is in the perfect home, THREE DOORS DOWN FROM PORTER!  ( I should state, for the record, that the big bank of cabinets surrounding the fridge in the picture were installed by Troy when he and Jenny lived there, so awesome.)

Dixie moved into a big new house, on Saturday.  It was left to Breckyn, the twins and I to clean her apartment and get it ready for the new tennants.  And while I'm so happy and excited for Dixie to FINALLY have a house again, to no longer have three kids crammed into that tiny space.  To have a yard and a neighborhood, etc.  I can't help but be a little nostalgic of all that has taken place within those 4 apartments over many years for our family. Oh, and I can't help but be a BIT jealous that SHE gets to be neighbors with Porter and Lana.  I wouldn't trade my neighborhood for ANYTHING, but I would give anything to have Porter and Lana living next door.  Anyone that gets to have them as  neighbors are super lucky.  I should know, I had the pleasure of living on top of them, next door to them for 3 great years.

Anyway....

*never again will a Shumway kid live amongst those walls.  And we have all lived in them at one time or another.

*Gone are the nights of turning on the baby monitor in one aparment and hanging out in the other to watch our shows, or just play around.

*Many, MANY shared dinners.

*Many long nights of talking, crying, venting, laughing, etc.

*No more concrete playground to keep the kids occupied and filthy.

*No more calling a sibling to come and save the day, whether it be maiming your child on accident, not knowing how to make something, poo accidents, needing a break from your kid, borrowing the right spices, using a tool, etc.

*Mom and Dad are no longer a mere minute away.

Thanks for the memories Nina Drive.  And thanks for giving us a place to call home Mom and Dad.  They were some great years of our lives!!!

Paintbrushes and windex,

Allyson