{"id":5548,"date":"2018-09-15T08:50:33","date_gmt":"2018-09-15T08:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/?p=5548"},"modified":"2018-09-15T08:50:33","modified_gmt":"2018-09-15T08:50:33","slug":"moving-children-childhood-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2018\/09\/moving-children-childhood-home.html","title":{"rendered":"Moving Children Out of Their Childhood Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

I remember memorizing my\u00a0childhood steps.<\/em><\/p>\n

My mom was sadly unaware this day had come.<\/p>\n

As the memories left her – they came towards us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I felt my foundation crumbling. The door to this emotional sanctuary slamming shut and forever exiling a part of me. Scratch that. Banishing a part of my family lost forever.<\/p>\n

\"pexels-photo-731082\"<\/a><\/p>\n

More importantly, this was not and I repeat not the way I wished to part with the place I called HOME.<\/em><\/p>\n

There would be no great reminiscing of late night conversations, family feasts or the ordinary yet extraordinary love these four walls housed.<\/p>\n

There would be no time to reflect upon the imperfections which made us all feel the perfection of home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead, we would walk from room to room and pack up the mementos\u00a0which built us.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Waterford\u00a0we shifted as we dusted our way through Sunday chores, the box of a mother’s love filled with cherished notes, and more importantly…just what emotional relic captured a slice of each of our hearts.<\/p>\n

Had Alzheimer’s not stolen this melancholy yet love-filled\u00a0adventure from our mother I wonder what she might have said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Would she have walked us from room to room, nic nack to nic nack and shared a neglected memory?<\/em><\/p>\n

I will never know.<\/p>\n

But I hold onto knowing\u00a0she would have been happy we retraced those room the best we could.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We entered with care and discarded nothing without reflection and funny or sentimental remarks.<\/p>\n

I now find myself on the other side of goodbye.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s time for my children to leave the only home they remember.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The clock winding towards difficult decisions of what will stay and what will go.<\/p>\n

Of how they will each capture the essence of what their childhood represents to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Will, they chose to keep a sentimental picture, a silly kitchen gadget, a table, a dresser, dishes or some other seemingly random part of their creation?<\/em><\/p>\n

But of course, none of it is random.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These are the pieces which shaped them.<\/p>\n

Does a part of me break internally? Watching them extricate themselves with the world they safely retreated to each day. The little slice of where they alone belonged?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And Yes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And Yes!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because each of us has but one home.<\/p>\n

The place where the world feels at once sacred and safe.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It may not look the same.<\/em><\/p>\n

But it feels the same.<\/em><\/p>\n

And leaving it makes our foundation feel as if it’s crumbling.<\/p>\n

As if we will never survive the way we were accustomed to.<\/p>\n

Goodbyes are never easy and some are not chosen.<\/em><\/p>\n

But unlike my mother, I get the luxury of shared reflection.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The great reminiscing of late night conversations, family feasts and the ordinary yet extraordinary love these four walls housed.<\/p>\n

The time to reflect upon the imperfections which made us all feel the perfection of home.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do I wish my\u00a0children got to say goodbye under different circumstances?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

Much the same way I wish Alzheimer’s hadn’t stolen the last few steps my heart would take in my childhood home.<\/p>\n

But I find peace knowing as my siblings and I retraced that impossible journey begging to capture it all…<\/p>\n

Our foundation was not crumbling.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was only shifting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Walls don’t create love.<\/em><\/p>\n

They simply house it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow me on Facebook @Colleen Orme National Columnist<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instagram @colleenorme<\/p>\n

Twitter @colleenorme
\nPinterest @colleensheehyorme
\nE-mail: Colleen.Sheehy.Orme@gmail.com<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember memorizing my\u00a0childhood steps. My mom was sadly unaware this day had come. As the memories left her – they came towards us. I felt my foundation crumbling. The door to this emotional sanctuary slamming shut and forever exiling a part of me. Scratch that. Banishing a part of my family lost forever. More…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[175,336],"tags":[331,18,2,36,97,12],"class_list":["post-5548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-children","category-family","tag-child","tag-children","tag-divorce","tag-family","tag-parenthood","tag-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nMoving Children Out of Their Childhood Home - How Great Thou Part<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2018\/09\/moving-children-childhood-home.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Moving Children Out of Their Childhood Home - How Great Thou Part\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I remember memorizing my\u00a0childhood steps. My mom was sadly unaware this day had come. As the memories left her – they came towards us. I felt my foundation crumbling. The door to this emotional sanctuary slamming shut and forever exiling a part of me. Scratch that. Banishing a part of my family lost forever. 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My mom was sadly unaware this day had come. As the memories left her – they came towards us. I felt my foundation crumbling. The door to this emotional sanctuary slamming shut and forever exiling a part of me. Scratch that. Banishing a part of my family lost forever. 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