Saying Goodbye To My Parents...

No, they haven't croaked just yet... They had sprung it on me back in March that they were putting their house on the market and moving to Arizona... selling the house they've lived in since I was 5. My childhood home and pretty much the only snapshot that comes to mind when I think about the backdrop of the memories of my youth.

Several months and a price reduction later, they finally got an offer in this crummy real estate market! At long last, my mom could break the secret to her employers and finally retire. My dad has been retired for some time, so it was an easy transition for him... jump in the truck and go... but my mom had two doctor's families whom she has been a house manager for, for almost 25 years, to say goodbye to...with kids she met as toddlers who are now welcoming their own children into the world. It will probably be a long 12 step process to break her habits of getting up at 4am every day. At least now it can be to have coffee and read a book by the pool instead of to turn on the fireplace and head out to manage someone else's home.

We helped them fill two full sized semi trailers on Friday and they receive payment for their house today. Tonight is spent at an RV park...and then tomorrow they hit the road for Arizona to start their next chapter and a new adventure.

Bye mom & dad! We'll miss having you so close. Please call often and visit as often as you would like (lord knows we'll be coming down there often to enjoy the sun). When you're settled, we'll get you Skype so you can read Ian bedtime stories over the computer.

So, while they're still alive and kicking, I do know one thing now that this adventure is all over: When they do go, my brother, sister, and I will be stuck fighting over A LOT of stuff. I wonder if I can talk them into writing it into their will to leave it all to my sister. She would legally be stuck with it all, right?

The house and yard I grew up in... It's just now hitting me that I won't be driving down that driveway again...

Mom & Dad are staying in this RV park in the middle of the city tonight... poised to head south tomorrow morning. They're in one of the RV's. Is that my dad sipping iced tea at the pool?