I'm on my way...

Home Sweet Home

"I was thinking about the apartment on ninth. The floor sags. Needs a paint job. Right now it's just this, this foreign place. But pretty soon it's gonna be home. You know, it'll be a part of me, in a way."

~ Noel

On July 28, 1988, my family moved from Merrick to Baldwin. I was excited to move there; we all were. It was definitely a trade up. Robb and I went to school in Levittown anyway, and despite a lot of awesome things about Merrick, the Baldwin house was just better. Wayyyy bigger. And it had a porch swing!

The day was hard of course, moving one house to another in the heat of summer. And at the end of the night, my mother could NOT get the air conditioner in the window. After much cursing and frustration, she finally walked up to Robb and me and said, "Let's just go home!"

So we drove back to Merrick, where the house was still technically ours for another day or two, and where an air conditioner was conveniently in the window. We slept on the floor in my parents' room, which was now empty. It wasn't the same, but for one last night, we could still sleep at home.

Tomorrow, the movers are coming. My father and brother are already on their way to the new house, but my house still looks like the same home I've known for almost 20 years. I closed my door tonight and looked at my room, my teenage bedroom. The room where I cried over so many boys it's ridiculous. The room where I grew up, became "me." I looked at the window that looks out onto the side of the house and thought about that first day here, when I felt so lucky to live in such a pretty, airy room. I used to read books next to that window and just feel very romantic about things in general.

That won't be my room soon. I'm moving up to the third floor, and someone else will be living in my current room. And that part, I can't wait for. It will be a truly amazing thing to have my house filled with friends that I love. It's a blessing to get to stay in the house itself.

But that time hasn't come yet. For now, I'm mourning my family's gradual absence from the house. Soon my house will be a new home, and it will be great. But never the same again. So tonight? I want to "just go home" for one last night.

Much love, Baldwin family house.



©2007