Won't take nothing but a memory…
Posted on | July 16, 2010 | No Comments
We met with the real estate agent on Thursday. The lock box is on the front door. The for sale sign is going up today or tomorrow & that sound you hear? That is my heart going 90 to nothing.
I’m at peace with this decision but now comes the hardest part.
The waiting.
In case some of you are reading the blog for the first time “Hi, I’m Joanna & I don’t have a single patient bone in my body. I’m high maintenance, high strung and I can’t wait for anything…. ever.”
So this whole sitting around and stewing while waiting for people to take a tour of our house and then waiting around some more? Not really my style.
On the bright side, it might provide some fodder for the ole blizog. We’ll have to see.
Now on to the real matter at hand. Tiffany’s Guest Post. Y’all… it made me cry. Like if I was wearing mascara there would have been ugly black streaking tears down my face cry. But we all know I don’t wear makeup that much these days.
Part of me wanted to save the email & keep it all to myself because it made me all warm & fuzzy inside, but you really need to read it because it just shows you Tiffany’s lovely personality. Anyone who is skeptical of having good friends that you’ve only met on the internet hasn’t been running in my “electronic circle.”
If you aren’t familiar with her blog, mom nom, check it out and follow her on twitter, you will not be disappointed.
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When Joanna asked me to talk about “home”, I thought, Gosh, that’s a great topic. I have so much to say.
Turns out…
I really don’t.
But, what I do have to say is how proud I am of Clint & Joanna.
It’s not about the house.
I think it is fair to say that everyone is looking to raise his or her child in a home where they find love, confidence and security. A place were they find refuge and acceptance and faith (to some degree). A place where they can lay their heads at night knowing that in the morning, when they rise, life will be comforting and sometimes monotonous…but it will be just as they left it the night before.
Whether it is a one room studio or a five bedroom palace – it’s the people that make the home. Not the house.
I see a lot of my personal friends purchasing homes much grander and far larger than those of our parents. They are building empires and buying up furniture and purchasing things upon things upon things.
They keep buying possessions to make their house feel like a home & I believe they are missing the point.
Home is where the mom is.
And I mean it.
It’s not about the size of your house, or the material possessions you fill it with. It’s about the love, patience and the time to commit to what is inside that house that makes it a home.
It’s important to recognize that life situations change (loss of jobs, for example) and we have to be open, like Clint and Joanna, to the idea that the brick and mortar don’t make the home and we have to be able to accept change without feeling like we are leaving behind something that shapes us. Something that makes our family unit real.
Clint, Joanna and Madison are a home. They have it in their heart. They have it in their family. They have spent much of their time together building this bond and nothing, no structure on earth, will ever define home more fully than that.
I am certain the next house – the one where Miss Madison takes her first steps, uses the potty & sleeps in her big girl bed - will have endless memories and limitless happiness.
We need to invest more into what makes our house a home and less on making our home a house.
I leave you with my favorite song. Notice how the house was nothing more than a structure and all her memories are the love that went into it…
I know they say you cant go home again.
I just had to come back one last time.
Ma’am I know you don’t know me from Adam.
But these handprints on the front steps are mine.
And up those stairs, in that little back bedroom
is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar.
And I bet you didn’t know under that live oak
my favorite dog is buried in the yard.
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
this brokenness inside me might start healing.
Out here its like I’m someone else,
I thought that maybe I could find myself
if I could just come in I swear I’ll leave.
Won’t take nothing but a memory
from the house that built me.
Mama cut out pictures of houses for years.
From ‘Better Homes and Garden’ magazines.
Plans were drawn, concrete poured,
and nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama’s dream.
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
this brokenness inside me might start healing.
Out here its like I’m someone else,
I thought that maybe I could find myself.
If I could just come in I swear I’ll leave.
Won’t take nothing but a memory
from the house that built me.
You leave home, you move on and you do the best you can.
I got lost in this whole world and forgot who I am.
I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
this brokenness inside me might start healing.
Out here its like I’m someone else,
I thought that maybe I could find myself.
If I could walk around I swear I’ll leave.
Won’t take nothing but a memory
from the house that built me.
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I'm Joanna. Momma to Madison & Hannah, wife to Clint and a wine-drinking extraordinaire
This blog is a love letter to my family. There are highs & lows, tantrums & hugs and most of all lots of laughs & love. I hope you'll join us on the ride.
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July 16th, 2010 @ 8:32 am
Lovely, lovely post Tiffany!!
My parents never moved while I was growing up, but have since moved twice (this time just down the street in the city as well. so fun) since I’ve moved out. It wasn’t the moving that stirred up emotions for me, it was sifting through the boxes and boxes of memories stored in closets and attics. But to know that those are simply things, and it is the people who you are with that make the home, is all that matters as you said
And I LOVE THAT SONG.
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July 16th, 2010 @ 8:44 am
And you suck cause your post rocks, Tiffany! Well said my friend. JPW and I have found ourselves wanting less stuff and more time/memories.
Joanna your move will make you happier than you know or can imagine right now. You’ll look back and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. Good things come to those who wait, patience, your house will sell.
)
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July 16th, 2010 @ 8:45 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Felix Rodriguez, Mom-Nom.Com and Mom-Nom.Com, JoannaOsborne. JoannaOsborne said: Update on the state of my nerves & a lovely guest posts from @MomNom http://bit.ly/diez8k [...]
July 16th, 2010 @ 9:29 am
[...] over at Raising Madison waiting on [...]
July 16th, 2010 @ 9:34 am
Beautiful!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 10:22 am
I really do love that song. This whole situation Joanna and Clint are going through right now hits so close to home with me right now. 6 months ago we neraly lost our house/property/etc and there was a lot of talk about what “home” is and means and you’re right…it’s not about the structure, it’s about the hearts and what we make it.
Wonderful post Tiffany. “Home is where the mom is” I love it!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 10:28 am
This post is beautiful. Also I am not a very patient person either so I understand the stress of having to wait and wait. Good luck with your move!
Krista
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July 16th, 2010 @ 10:46 am
Love you both girls! Great post!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 11:43 am
Oh hon, I’m right there with you. We just had our house on the market for six months. Unfortunately, it did not sell so we’re still here riding out this terrible economy.
Things are looking up though. We’re making a couple improvements and have decided to rent it out so we can move on. Even though I constantly complain about this house being too small I know we will miss it when we’re gone. I brought both my boys home from the hospital here. So many memories. But I can pack them with me in my heart. So can you.
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July 16th, 2010 @ 12:11 pm
good luck Joanna, your house will sell because its awesome. didn’t your husband build a deck or something? and of course you are hilarious and I love reading your blizog. have a great weekend!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 12:41 pm
I’m kinda new to your blog, but I just wanted you to know I LOVE IT!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 2:19 pm
I love that song – and it fits in so perfectly with your post. What a beautiful, important thing to remember.
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July 16th, 2010 @ 2:21 pm
Great guest post, Tiffany!
My family moved several times growing up (like 7– and never more than 2 miles…Frustrating!)
As a kid, I always dreamed of staying in one place, and coming back to that place when I was grown.
Now, I don’t care where my family lives- that is where I go “home” to, whether I lived there or not.
It is the people, not the bricks, that make the home!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 2:53 pm
what a beautiful post! Home is totally the warmth of the people inside & the memories you hold dear. Love this.
Best to you during the transition, Joanna!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 7:40 pm
What a beautiful post! Tiffany, this is such a lovely thing to write for your friend! It made me tear up to! Joanna, my prayers are with you during this transition! Hugs to you both!
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July 16th, 2010 @ 10:05 pm
WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! OK, that was the NICEST letter ever. What an amazing friend Tiffany is but that is only a testament to how amazing you are. Amazing seeks amazing, it’s scientific. I could not agree more with what Tiffany wrote. Great things are about to happen, hang on and trust in it.
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July 17th, 2010 @ 10:03 am
I just want to offer e-hugs. I don’t think there’s anything I can say that Tiffany didn’t already. Beautiful post!
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July 18th, 2010 @ 7:29 am
Good luck with this process and know that new windows are opening.
We’ve moved a lot since our first child was born. Four times in two years (yikes!). And we are now somewhere we plan to hang our hat for awhile. The one comfort I have with all this change is that we are together and home will always be where we are together.
But thinking as the offspring, home is still always where my mom is, even though she lives in a place I never have.
Funny how that all works.
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