Sometimes, it is very tough. Even though you may know the time has come, it can still be a gut-wrenching experience, one that can haunt you. It can be one of those decisions that you stretch out for as long as you can before making it, knowing every tormenting step of the way that it has to be made. And, your stomach will churn through the whole process.
But, when you reach the moment of decision, you will walk away suddenly realizing that the one thing you feared the most you would be leaving behind has gone with you. You can't leave memories behind. They walk with you, for an eternity.
I have moved 27 times in my life, and every time I moved, or at least the ones I remember, I was always worried that a part of me would be left behind.
I remember when I was 10 and we moved from our tiny house on 8th Avenue in what was North Regina to Edmonton and I figured that all those good times we had in that house would be gone. I still remember them, to this very day. Same thing when we headed to Vancouver. And, I remember when we moved from Vancouver to Montreal that the memories that came from our house in Burnaby would stay there. They didn't. Like an old true friend, they came along. The same thing happened when we moved to Toronto, Lorne Park actually. And when we moved back to Regina, I was sure my life would never recover. But, the memories trotted along, like a faithful old dog.
Life is all about making memories. Some are great, some aren't, and some, well, they just don't matter all that much. I have wonderful memories from the houses we had in the 3400 block of Angus Street and then in the 3100 block of McCallum Ave. They were where the kids grew up, went to school, first at Lakeview, then at Sheldon-Williams. I remember throwing the football in the schoolyard across the street or playing baseball with the kids. I remember the 4:30am alarm that got us up in the pitch black of a minus 30 degree morning to go play hockey in Pense or Pilot Butte. I remember going out on a freezing Saturday night to take a hot chocolate to my son Geoffrey, whose winter job (for $500) was to watch over the outdoor rink at the corner of Athol and McCallum.
I remember the house we had on Prospect Place because it had a swimming pool, and the kids loved it and so did my sainted Hillsdale aunt and so did we. I will always remember the house we are in now because Joe Pettick, the great Regina architect designed it, and it is to die for.
Some day, we will have to leave this place, I know that. I have always said that my next move will be to Speers. But I will go there with a load of great memories.
You know, moving from a home you have spent a lot of time in can be traumatic for a lot of people. It figures, and there is nothing wrong with that. But, the reason it is nerve-wrenching is not because you are leaving a home where so many good things happened. It is because you think the memories will stay there. But, the memories go with you. It is the memories that make the place special, and you can never leave them behind. You will discover they are among your most faithful companions in life, the memories are.
The reason I am writing this is because the other day some people from Calgary were driving through Lakeview and they noticed an EXIT Realty Fusion for sale sign on a house in the 3100 block of Robinson Street. They sent an email to the listing agent, Loretta Hughes, who is the EcoBrokerTM at EXIT Realty Fusion. They grew up in that house. They shared memories with Loretta. One of those who grew up in that house was Allan Blair, whose contributions in Saskatchewan were so immense that the city's cancer clinic is named after him. Those people who grew up in that house now live in Calgary, and when they left here the memories went with them, and have never left.
So, when you are having trouble making a move from a house you grew up in, or raised your kids in, or started a new life in, don't fret. You may leave the house behind. But, the memories, they will never leave you.
