Last night, my children and I stood and watched the demolition of the final remains of our home that had been destroyed in the fire.

My throat grew tight as I choked  back the tears that threatened to invade my eyes.

Though we were only renters and not owners of the property, we had a strong connection to the house as we had moved into it during a time of many changes for my family.

Several memories were created there.

 When we decided to move there, I had been looking for a change, a new job opportunity, and a chance to save a marriage that had barely begun yet was on the verge of divorce.

I married at the end of 2010 and lived three hours from my husband. We lived in separate towns when we met. My children were in the middle of the school year and my husband was getting close to finishing his master’s degree.

We had agreed that the children and I would stay in our home until the end of the school year and we would visit my husband on the weekends. We would then move to be together when school was out.

I didn’t mind the travel and we were both busy during the week anyway, so being apart during the week didn’t seem to be a problem…

…until my husband informed me barely five to six weeks into the marriage that he wanted a divorce.

I was crushed!

 

My marriage had felt to me like a fairy tale that had abruptly shattered into pieces.

I quickly sought out counseling and decided it was time to move closer to my husband.

Within a few months, I found a new job and was offered a home not far from him.

It was nothing short of a miracle how everything came together so fast.

The divorce went through in December 2011 but I never regretted moving to our new home.  

The home was like nothing I had ever lived in and I was in disbelief that I, a single mother with limited income, could live in such a place.

The home itself was not very desirable to look at but we loved so much about it.

It was old and in need of a paint job and several repairs, but the house was spacious and the lot was large for city living; there was plenty of parking for friends to visit; we had several fruit trees in our yard that provided us with bountiful fruit for eating fresh, canning, and sharing with others; our neighborhood was fairly peaceful; the house was located close to a park where the children could play; we were within walking distance to the ferry and beach. 

We had an incredible view of the Puget Sound that friends envied each time they visited.

We had many gatherings of family and friends in our home.

 

 

We had AWESOME Halloween parties each year!

 

Because of the large size of the home, we had the ability to open our doors several times over again to welcome others who needed food to eat or a place to sleep.

We shared many moments of joyous laughter and shed many tears of sorrow in that home.

 We blessed the lives of many in our spacious home overlooking the Puget Sound!

It was heartbreaking to have it all ripped away from us, but the memories will live on forever…