Home is Where We Find Our Peace

Well, it's official. Last Friday, we closed on Grandpa's house, bringing this emotional, exhausting, bittersweet journey to an end.

If you've been following along, you know how difficult this process has been. Between sorting through a lifetime of belongings, saying goodbye to a home filled with memories, and worrying about how Grandpa would adjust to such a significant change, it's been a LOT.

I was particularly worried about the final walkthrough. I wasn't sure I was ready to walk through Grandma and Grandpa's home one more time, knowing it would never be theirs again. Ironically, it turned out to be exactly what I needed.

Somewhere between the packing, cleaning, moving, and preparing for closing, something changed. It might be because of what I do for a living, but when we walked through the empty house Friday morning, it was simply that...an empty house. It no longer felt like Grandma and Grandpa's home. I wasn't expecting that, but I was extremely grateful for it. Somehow, it made saying goodbye a whole lot easier.

We were able to close remotely with Grandpa from his new home in NE, and we finally got to see him settled into his new digs. Y'all, I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I am! Grandpa and his pup are both FAR less stressed than they've been over the past several months, and so am I.

Seeing that relieved smile on his face, knowing he's comfortable, safe, and surrounded by people who love him, made every difficult part of this experience worth it. I knew we were making the right decision, but there is a big difference between believing something is right and finally getting to SEE that it's right.

On our way home, we stopped by Mom's house, and guess what I snagged. 😏🌹

This time, it wasn't from Grandpa's garden. It was a beautiful ketchup and mustard (weird name, I know) rose from Mom's and the funny thing is, it had FAR fewer sharp thorns than the roses I'd been bringing home from Grandpa's house for the past few decades.

I thought about that on the way home. For months, I've been so focused on making sure Grandpa would be happy, comfortable, and surrounded by love in his new home. Seeing him settled was such an enormous relief. Then, without giving it much thought, I stopped at a place where I've always been able to find those things for myself. I'm talking about another place where I'm loved, comfortable, and always feel safe. This is a place where I can still stop by anytime and pick a beautiful rose. Thanks, Mom Valerie Hall Stopher! <3

Grandma and Grandpa's house will always hold wonderful memories, and I will miss so many things about it. But...Grandpa is happy, his pup is happy, and the house is ready for the new owners to make their own memories.

My roses may come from a different garden now, but I think we are all going to be just fine.