Bless This House

My family sang this song at every holiday at my grandmothers house growing up.  My last memory of this song though was when my Grandmother moved from the family house to assistive living.  The home was more then just a gather place for my family but it had been my Grandfathers family home as well.  I loved everything about that house.  The smell, the intercom system for the upstairs, the laundry chute, the door bell chime, the three season porch, walking to the park, the creepy basement with the pool table, the cedar closets filled with generations of stuff and just feeling loved.  So writing this blog made me go onto Google Maps and look up my Grandmothers address on Windsor Ave in Chicago IL.  I now regret this decision.  The street looks different, her house looks different, and I liked what I remembered much better not because the home is in disrepair but because it is no longer the home I remember.

Today we refinanced our house which means no more mortgage insurance!  It also means we are staying here for at least 5 more years so at least our oldest child will remember our first home.  I look forward to creating traditions with  our family as well as maintaining old ones.