My small tribute

Today is strange day for me. I am getting what I have wanted and what most of my family has wanted for a long time. You know they say "be careful what you wish for"
Today my grandparents are moving. Okay, moving. A lot of people move and it is a local move. A few miles. It may as well be a thousand miles. The house they are moving from is just a house right? Technically yes. It is much more than a house to many of us. They have lived there for more than 45 years. I have never known them to live anywhere else. While there are so many great memories that would fill up 17 blog posts it was becoming really hard to go there. The neighborhood like so many older ones really has changed.It is okay for a lot of people but we worried about them and the usual things like falling,maintaining the house, etc. After begging, threatening and cajoling they are finally leaving today. It hit like a ton of bricks. When I was moving to WA and I went to the house to say goodbye, I said goodbye to the house as much as I was saying goodbye to my grandparents. Now that they are not there anymore I can go back to my happy childhood memories. The ones where we squeezed 30 people in for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. The ones of my sister and I hunting for Easter eggs. The ones of us playing ping pong, badminton and croquet. The ones of me helping my grandma cut roses from her rose bushes and cutting fresh mint for iced tea.
This was no country farm house, just a track home built in the 60's in the desert of southern California. That didn't matter to a granddaughter, it was paradise to a little kid. Neighbors, sidewalks, Sunday morning pancakes, toys and best of all grandparents who thought the world revolved around you. I was luckiest of all. I was the first grandchild. The sun rose and set on me for a couple of golden years.
Their house was my safe refuge from a dying parent, a hurtful step dad or anything else that may make a small kid feel like they needed unconditional love.
Those are the memories I want to keep safe and cherish and share with my girls. I am glad to keep those safe now, away from the place that the house has become. I didn't need it to be a sad reminder of what was.
So I am feeling a little emotional. I am not there to help but maybe that is a good thing. I am just a phone call away if they need me and happy to dispense my advice and knowledge from WA. I know the same goes for them, they are just a phone call away and they will be safe now. Funny how the roles reverse.
So I say goodbye to the house not the home it was, not the memories it provided just a house.