It has been an amazing summer full of fun and sun and music and laughter. And on this Labor Day Weekend, the close out of the summer, the fun has been on full tilt. And then today, as the friends and the kids were packing up to leave I was hit by this strange feeling I didn't want to acknowledge. With two days left in the weekend and lots of offers for parties and more fun and festivity, I felt this pull to stay. I fought it hard. Staying busy, making plans, ready to continue the weekend ...... until I could no longer ignore it.
So I dropped off the last teenager to their next event and slowly made my way back home to do what I knew I needed to do. The thing I've been ignoring all summer. It was time to say goodbye. It was time to let it all go.
This beautiful place that I call home is for sale. The dream home that was built to fill up lots of broken places in people. The cracks that couldn't be filled with wildflowers and wood floors. It's time to let it go. It's time to move on. I've been at peace with this decision for many months and started marketing this beautiful place on to the next great family who needs to love it well.
And as I've been busy all summer living and loving and enjoying this life, I've not taken the time to really say goodbye to this property, this home, this season.
So I shut down my phone and all the outside world and I got to work. I pulled the weeds and I mowed the lawn and I cleaned the floors, and I changed the sheets and I did it with love and gratitude, just as I did when it was being built. No sadness or regret, just the love and gratitude for a season of life that will forever be in our hearts.
I was reminded earlier today while the kids were floating and jumping in the lake for this great holiday that this would be the last summer here. I knew when I woke this morning that this season is coming to an end. The summer season and the season of the lake house. I'm ready, I'm ready for new adventures and new beginnings and new people and places. I'm at peace and I am ready.
So just as the sun was setting with my favorite last light of the day, I jumped on the four wheeler and toured this place and said my goodbyes. I stopped at each place and let the memories sink deep. The flowers that were planted, the paths that were created, the laughs and the parties and the families we've welcomed. The tears that I've shed on each path through these woods. I remembered the neighbor girl the first time I met her standing tiny in her pink cowboy boots. I remembered thinking, this little girl will become my daughter's friend and a part of our story. And she has. Now both beautiful young women.
And as I let go and said goodbye, I also said goodbye to the pain and the guilt and the hurt and the suffering. Because life is a package deal and you get the good with the bad and the sunshine with the storms. I acknowledged them all for the beauty of this special season with love and gratitude, ready to let it go. And as I rode through this place with the warm breeze in my face, I closed my eyes and felt the warm wash of grace and the permission to move forward knowing this place will honor another family and they will also love it well.
