A Letter To The Next Owner Of Our Home

As we have embarked on the process of ending the chapter in our current home and moving on to a new adventure building our new home, I have found in short order that there are feelings involved in this process that I haven't really addressed. In order to keep it together and not turn into a pile of feelings at the goodbye to our townhome, I felt it would be quite natural for me to write a letter to the new owner to the place we have been fortunate to call home for the past seven years. This is my letter:

Dear new owner of our home,

If you are reading this, you are the new owner of the space we have been blessed to call our home for the past seven years. Blessed is what summarizes seven years of memories and the start of our family's life together here, and we hope that feeling lends itself to you in your time here.

There were many firsts for us here.

It was our first home together, the biggest purchase I had ever made. I remember first walking into the place after the papers were signed. The first ice cream cake we got to celebrate. The first thing I loved about this place - the fireplace mantle. The first thing I brought into the house, an engagement photo of my husband and I - to place on that mantle.

There was our first housewarming party. It was the first place our first puppy ever knew to be home. It was the place my husband received the news that he had secured his first after-college job. It was the place I came home to when, for the first time, I had lost mine.

It was the first place we had painted a room together; the small main floor bathroom, the same shade you see now.

Painting snowballed into the first time we went furniture shopping for the first new furniture to bring into our first home. It was the first time we fell into debt.

It was the first place we decided to go "all-in" on the fish keeping hobby, which led to over 500 gallons of water in the home at any given time (don't worry, there were no blow-outs or floods!). It was the first time we decided to try salt water fish keeping for a short period of time.

It was where we celebrated our first Christmas together as a married couple, with our first real (and later, fake) Christmas trees.

It was where I found out I was pregnant for the first time, and the first time I lost a baby.

There were game nights, movie nights, gaming nights, holidays, anniversaries, birthdays, Superbowls, TV series viewing nights, girl's nights, guy's nights and so many in-between nights. There were 5-8 dinners out as the delicious smell of onion rings and burgers wafted in from across the street. There was the HONK of the gas station car wash, warning cars to stop and park. There were games of fetch and frisbee with our dog in the playfields behind us, and the patch of yard in front. The quiet street, the nice neighbors, nearby restaurants, gas and schools were nice.

It was the first time I had a patio garden of my own, and realized for the first time, just how much I loved gardening. It was where our puppy felt grass and ate leaves for the first time. The front yard is where I facilitated my first National Night Out block party for our townhouse association.

It was the place I inserted my first insulin pump site.

There were many friends and much family. Many tears, laughs and smiles. Long conversations, minor break-downs, repairs and improvements.

It was the first place we called home, and we hope you feel the love that was had here, as we have truly loved living here for these years.

I love the quirk that our doorbell has never worked, and then we installed a second. That one works when it wants to, but makes me laugh because now there are two doorbell buttons outside. We never really did find out what those two mystery switches were for. We both suspected they were for a potential ceiling fan install, but we never made that change. I loved how my Morning Glories grew by the door with almost no effort.

I know where the upstairs floor creaks and know that the bedroom door rattles in its frame when windows in the loft and the bedroom are open at the same time during a breeze while the door is closed at night. We had a sock hanging over the top of the door to stop that from happening, which our realtor laughed at before mentioning it needed to come down.

The Sunroom (and fish room) was my favorite in the house. The way the afternoon light came in through the slatted wood blinds; the warmth of the fireplace on cold fall nights.

I've never been good at goodbyes, even over silly small things, but something like this doesn't have to be sad because it has been such a blessing to us. I will always call it our first home, and to me, it always will be. I am sure in the future, I will drive by and "check on the place." I may not wave, get out or stop by, but will remember with fondness all that started here.

I know that you will change it -paint it, update it, maintain it as you please, filling in the nooks and crannies with your new memories.

Please love it, take care of it and cherish all of the little moments and precious memories you make here. Maybe even a few firsts, like so many of ours we made here.

-The Dobersteins