Homeowners!!!

It is absolutely surreal that we became homeowners two hours ago.

We started to get a little anxious when the seller and her attorney weren't there after almost an hour. (We were there 20 minutes early.) They were both late separately, which was kind of obnoxious. We used that time to write out a few checks and sign about a zillion documents.

The seller was awesome, icing on the cake. It feels so good to buy a house from someone who is warm and eager to see it go to good people. She is a middle-aged widow with six grown children, and she and her husband lived in the house since 1984 when they moved in with their two babies. Our agent had told us that she was moving because her husband had recently died, and it was all I could do not to cry when she told her attorney, "I brought Teddy's death certificate in case you need it again." They had just put work into the house, seemingly anticipating staying in the house for quite some time still. I can't imagine raising your family in a house and then leaving when your partner dies, after renovating the bathroom together, putting in custom window treatments, etc. Making it yours now that your kids are out of the house. She said the next project was going to be to refinish the wood floors. I said, "Oh we are doing that before we even move in!" and she got so excited. She said she wished she would be able to see them, and I told her to feel free to drop in next time she's in town.

She said that the house was "always busy and full of family and love," I told her we hope to give it that same life, and she gave me such a warm hug. She said she's grateful to be living near her son in Connecticut now, because otherwise we would probably start to wonder about the strange woman we keep seeing in the driveway.

Before meeting her, I felt guilty about feeling so happy to get this house when it's because of such terrible circumstances for someone else. But after we spoke, I felt so happy and at peace. She raised her family in this house, loved this house, tended to this house, and now she is passing it on to a new family to continue bringing in that same energy. It almost feels like the house has a life and spirit of its own. She seemed genuinely happy to see it go to us, and also happy for this whole process to be over so that she can have it behind her and settle in in CT, where she now has a job and a home near her son and her very young grandchildren.

After closing, we went over to the house just to see it and try to grasp that it was really ours. Nicole isn't as sentimental as I am, and is not generally able to sit for long (or sometimes at all) in a place of joy and appreciation before anxiously planning the next thing. So I had long ago let go of the romantic notion of a picnic on the living room floor or a glass of champagne or even just sitting snuggled in a corner of an empty room. I let her pace downstairs and I went upstairs and just cherished every piece of this that is OURS. I touched the wood, the blinds, the bathroom cabinet, the glass doorknobs. I pressed my lips to the wood frame of our bedroom doorway and inhaled the smell. I stared into the small middle bedroom that will someday be our nursery.

Our home.