Then today the family gathered at Mom's to begin hauling things to be taken to our homes, sorting through things , cleaning out the greenhouse, basement and garage for the new owners, burning lots of wood and cardboard, and recalling so many memories. We sat around the dining room table for the last time ever, and all of us had the same thought. Where will we do this now? So we're going to make the second bedroom in Mom's apartment into a dining room, and continue to have our family gatherings there. It won't be the same as the homestead, but it's the family and laughter that make it special, not the building. (At least that's what we're trying to convince ourselves of...)
Then we gathered on the front steps for one last family photo. My brother Jay, Mom, Jay's wife and our sister Cheryl, (we don't use the word in-law in our family. Once your here, you're one of us) my sister Marlene, me and my sisters Kathy, and Wendy, and my husband Ken.
So Tuesday she gets her key, and we'll move her in. And the door will close, along with that chapter of our lives.
