Two Years Later

No "artsy" photo today, just a snapshot of a family milestone. It was two years ago that we finally got my Mother moved out of Louisiana up to the Knoxville area where she would be closer to me, my brother, and my sister. She was 81 at the time, in declining health, and we wanted her closer where we could help her if she needed us. We also wanted to remove her from the almost yearly problem of hurricane evacuations. So after years of cajoling after Katrina, we finally got her to move the week before Thanksgiving 2011.

Mom only got to spend two nights in her new rented house in Tennessee before my sister had to take her to the hospital with breathing problems. She spent most of the next six weeks in the hospital before she went to receive hospice care at my brother's house in Georgia. She died on February 3, 2012.

Moving Day, Metairie, LA  -  2011

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

Two years after we moved her to Tennessee, we finally have gotten her house sold. The closing will be Wednesday, giving us something extra to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Trying to maintain and sell an empty house from over 600 miles away has been a nightmare; a rather expensive nightmare. Although we didn't get the asking price we were originally hoping for, we are all glad that this ordeal is finally over. We're all thankful for that!

As relieved as I am to get this house sold, there is a part of me that is a little melancholy about seeing it go. This is the house I grew up in from age three until I left for college, and even a short time after that. I have memories of Thanksgivings, Christmases, and other family gatherings in that house that now seems too small for all the people we had visiting. I'm glad that although the house will have new occupants, I get to keep the memories with me.