Almost to the Day

On October 29, 1998, we closed on the house we currently live in. The movers came the very next day, October 30, carrying everything we owned.

Twelve years later almost to the day, on October 21, 2010, we closed on our new property. Yet there are no movers this time around. Not yet, anyway. We won't be ready to move until about a year from now.

It may have taken us 14 years to find our home - yes, this is what we'd been looking for all along, even before purchasing the house we live in now - but we've finally found it. When we heard this place was on the market, my husband and I didn't even need to discuss it. We both knew. We were going to buy this place. When the kids found out about it, there was no hesitation: they wanted to know how soon we could move. When we finally took the dog over after closing, he ran and ran and ran, stopping periodically to sniff the air or explore something on the ground. And when he ran back to us, I swear that dog had a smile on his face.

So it's unanimous: all 5 humans, and 1 canine, love our new home. And even though we have much work ahead in razing the existing home and building a new one before we can move, it does feel like home to us. It's where we belong. It's where we were meant to be all along. It isn't really a choice for us - it is destiny.