With five minutes to spare, we left the keys and garage door openers on the counter, locked the doors, and left our home at 305 Dalton Drive for the last time. In five minutes, the new owners would come in and take occupancy. Our home that we built in 1988, renovated and expanded in 2003, and raised our family in, would now pass to a new family to make as their own. Mike and I would move to a new home in Raleigh, a transition home for us while we decide where we want to be long-term.

For the past few weeks, we cleaned out, packed, and let go of furniture that we knew we would never need again. This included beds, Mike’s and my large desks, wrought iron furniture, and assorted odds and ends. The cleaning out included discovering letters from family members and an old boyfriend, sympathy cards received when our parents died, and a lifetime of memories from past careers. Also, five hair dryers and four irons, found in bedrooms and bathrooms infrequently used!

I will miss many things about our beloved home. First of all and most acutely, I will miss our Aga, our English cooker. I plan to have another Aga when we are settled permanently. I will miss the space, although, at almost 5,000 square feet, it was too much space for two people who weren’t even there enough to care for the property as it needed to be. I will miss the neighborhood, a neighborhood that always felt safe. I will miss the location, from where we could travel most anywhere in Raleigh in twenty minutes.

I will miss the beauty, both the natural beauty of our almost four acres of land and the beauty of the interiors. The blue and yellow colors of most rooms, the heavy moldings, the simple yet elegant window treatments, and the many custom details that we added through the years. I do not expect to ever have a house that I love as much. Leaving it, knowing this leaving was forever, was so hard, although I know it was the right decision to make.

We take many memories with us. Memories of Tara and Chatham as they grew from preteens to adults. Memories of many Christmases, with the granddaughters waiting on the stairs until everyone was up before they could come downstairs to see what Santa left. Memories of Uncle Barry sitting on the kitchen barstool, barking his orders for breakfast. Memories of the many Thanksgivings we hosted for our extended family, the last few years, more than sixty-five of them. Memories of many family meals, hosting international friends and sharing our home with our business colleagues.

Change is hard. It is much easier to keep doing what we have always done than to do something different, even when we believe it is time to change course. We have to let go of what we have to grab hold of what can be.

We know what we are leaving, yet we do not know what we will be receiving. But we step out in faith, knowing that our next move will take us closer to where we need to be. For our foundation is strong. Our home at 305 Dalton anchors us, creating a foundation so strong that wherever we land, we will be home.