Anniversary!

The last day of the year always brings back the memory of December 31, 1981 - the day we moved into our present home. After living in an apartment for several years, we had begun looking for a house the previous summer. Terry had finished his studies and found a job. We had a young daughter and I was expecting our second child.

I hated the constraints of apartment living - the noise issues, the lack of privacy, lugging a baby stroller down two flights of stairs... (We had never been attracted to high-rise living, preferring instead a smallish building with no elevator.) There was no outdoor area for our young daughter to walk or play in: When I took her to the nearby park, I was horrified to discover cats digging in the sandbox, using it as a litter box, and broken glass on the walkways. Not ideal for a toddler!

So we had begun our search for the "perfect" house - discovering, in the process, that we couldn't afford it! But finally in October - a time when owners often lower the prices of houses that haven't sold over the summer, we found it. The house was a rental property. We envisaged moving in in spring, around March 1. The owners, who didn't want to renew their mortgage, insisted the closing date be December 31 - so that's the day we moved! I suppose we could have bought the house and continued to rent to the tenants until then, but we were inexperienced in home buying or selling and I was anxious to move into a place of our own.

Our moving day was cold, as I recall.  (The only pictures I have are in my mind, memories of how cold the house was with the door open so much.) Having to pay for heat for the first time, we continued to keep it cold! But I was happy our family finally had a permanent "home."


















Who would have known back then what changes we would make to the house over the years! We started by replacing the dining room window with a sliding door, then adding a deck.

One winter, a few years later, we replaced more windows, enlarging them to bring in more light....














Pictures taken that Christmas show the children playing in a living room in disarray - with bare plaster around our new windows. They didn't seem to mind!

But over the years, my dream came true - the dream that our family would be "rooted," that my children would grow up in one neighborhood, and not have to change schools as often as I had!