This House: Part Two

The second letter was written in the spring of 2007, right before we moved away to California. Kurt had held onto the first letter and he responded to it with a letter of his own.

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Dear Karen,

I love our house too. I'm not much of a writer, but as we spend our last few days in our home, I can't help but be saddened to the point of tears, and wanted to do my best to repay you for the sweet letter you gave me soon after we moved in.

This is the first house we've ever owned as a couple, and two of the best years of our lives have been spent in this house. This was the house Lily was born in, and the only home that Madeline, and most likely Aidan, can remember. This house sits in the only community I've ever felt we truly integrated into. This is the house I saw one of our kids (Aidan) run out to play with one of his friends from…..something I've looked forward to for as long as I can remember. The image of Aidan and Nile standing in the neighbor's yard in between our two houses is worth every penny we ever spent on this home.

This is the house we've worked through issues in, grew as people and grew as a couple. We moved into this house with me stressed about money and my career, and we move out with those worries quickly fading into nothingness. This is the first house we lived in when I started to feel optimistic that I can turn things around. When we moved into this house, every flaw annoyed me and made me miserable. Now I know the flaws and have grown to love them as character flaws in a house that is home to a guy who shares the attribute of countless character flaws, but also the attribute of trying his/its best to give a better life to everyone else in the home.

As I said at the start, and you already know, I'm not much of a writer, and I haven't thought through the words that I want to say, but the bottom line is that as much as I was troubled by this house when we moved in, I'm as troubled finding a way to let go of it.  And, although I know my efforts to be a better person, a happier person, a better husband, better dad, better friend, etcetera, have no end, I feel like my time in this house has helped me move quickly down that path -- which will make our next home that much better and that much more filled with love. Only time will tell if you ever "get over" the loss of a house, but I know one way or the other, this house will be a part of the rest of our lives. I also know that, as much as it hurts to leave, we will soon be happier and equally in love with another home, because I don't think it was the house that we loved, it was the people who made it home, and that is something we will never lose.

Love,
Kurt