I would be the same if I had to say good-bye to my house. Even if I was yearning to live somewhere different a piece of my heart would be here wanting to stay. The energy that seeps into the walls along with the memories. Thank you for sharing the images and thoughts of your beautiful home.
So many memories are tied to spaces inside and outside. You expressed it so lovingly, thank you and sorry you went though some tough times. Hope 2024 is a peaceful and joyous year.
This is lovely. I've only recently developed home 'feelings'. Until we retired we lived for 30 years in a new build on an estate that was soul-less and empty. We worked full-time and really spent only sleep time in the house. I even worked away from home for 16 of those years and was in it only briefly at weekends. It was shelter and a repository for our 'things'. Since retirement we have a house chosen for its view and its leisure potential, its scope to display our special things and to hold our thousands of books. It is becoming a place of feeling and memories.
That's fascinating. My nephew lives in one of those, as do other family members.. I've wondered how they feel about their house, which is mostly made of cheap materials and plastic - though is very big. I'm glad you're settling into your new place.
Thank you for another lovely article, and your moving eulogy to your home. Have you made the final decision to move?
I grew up in a house built in the late 18th Century and lived in by my family for the following generations. It was full of objects from the past and no ghosts, but a feeling that the old folk were keeping an eye on things. My husband was convinced that they pushed him into proposing!
My father moved in after my grandmother (who raised me) died. He wanted to modernise and understandably put in central heating and mains water. I also think he wanted to expunge the bad memories from his childhood in the house, and my stepmother wanted to make her mark on the house now it was hers. So, he stripped the house back to the bones and somehow the spirit of the house was lost.
We had to sell the house when my father died to pay for his nursing home fees. My stepmother had died some time before. But it was also in a remote part of Scotland. Family that lived in the area already had houses, and those of us who had moved away had lives elsewhere and could not afford to buy the house as a holiday home. So the family house was sold. And that is okay.
My husband and I bought our London house 17 years ago but next year my daughter and I plan to move back to Scotland. I will miss the house but also have the absurd notion that my late husband might not know where we are!
Thanks for reading, Kate. Houses are so personal! I know I have many emotions about mine, but it wasn't until writing this that I considered the house might have feelings, too. Seems to be on my mind, given the story I wrote last summer (shared here under Fiction, and about to get some revisions).
We've given ourselves a year to decide about moving, with the understanding that it will likely unfold in a way we can't predict. Whatever happens, it's very likely we will be leaving that house -- it's bigger than we need. Though nostalgia is a powerful drug, I do understand that change can be good.
I would be the same if I had to say good-bye to my house. Even if I was yearning to live somewhere different a piece of my heart would be here wanting to stay. The energy that seeps into the walls along with the memories. Thank you for sharing the images and thoughts of your beautiful home.
Thank you for reading and understanding, Donna.
What would Thoreau have thought about the world today? I often wonder that.
So many memories are tied to spaces inside and outside. You expressed it so lovingly, thank you and sorry you went though some tough times. Hope 2024 is a peaceful and joyous year.
Thank you! And to you as well, blessings on the new year.
Thank you!
This is lovely. I've only recently developed home 'feelings'. Until we retired we lived for 30 years in a new build on an estate that was soul-less and empty. We worked full-time and really spent only sleep time in the house. I even worked away from home for 16 of those years and was in it only briefly at weekends. It was shelter and a repository for our 'things'. Since retirement we have a house chosen for its view and its leisure potential, its scope to display our special things and to hold our thousands of books. It is becoming a place of feeling and memories.
That's fascinating. My nephew lives in one of those, as do other family members.. I've wondered how they feel about their house, which is mostly made of cheap materials and plastic - though is very big. I'm glad you're settling into your new place.
Thank you for another lovely article, and your moving eulogy to your home. Have you made the final decision to move?
I grew up in a house built in the late 18th Century and lived in by my family for the following generations. It was full of objects from the past and no ghosts, but a feeling that the old folk were keeping an eye on things. My husband was convinced that they pushed him into proposing!
My father moved in after my grandmother (who raised me) died. He wanted to modernise and understandably put in central heating and mains water. I also think he wanted to expunge the bad memories from his childhood in the house, and my stepmother wanted to make her mark on the house now it was hers. So, he stripped the house back to the bones and somehow the spirit of the house was lost.
We had to sell the house when my father died to pay for his nursing home fees. My stepmother had died some time before. But it was also in a remote part of Scotland. Family that lived in the area already had houses, and those of us who had moved away had lives elsewhere and could not afford to buy the house as a holiday home. So the family house was sold. And that is okay.
My husband and I bought our London house 17 years ago but next year my daughter and I plan to move back to Scotland. I will miss the house but also have the absurd notion that my late husband might not know where we are!
Thanks for reading, Kate. Houses are so personal! I know I have many emotions about mine, but it wasn't until writing this that I considered the house might have feelings, too. Seems to be on my mind, given the story I wrote last summer (shared here under Fiction, and about to get some revisions).
We've given ourselves a year to decide about moving, with the understanding that it will likely unfold in a way we can't predict. Whatever happens, it's very likely we will be leaving that house -- it's bigger than we need. Though nostalgia is a powerful drug, I do understand that change can be good.
Taking time seems a great idea. Good luck with it all.
Thank you!
Gaaaah I love this so much and the pictures just make that much...MORE. Thank you for sharing all of this, the words, the images, the memories. <3
❤️💕