Today we said goodbye.  No fanfare, just goodbye.  Goodbye to the home we built from the ground up 23 years ago; taking our time and doing most of the work ourselves.  The home we painstakingly and lovingly made our own.

No pomp, just goodbye.  Goodbye to the home in which we watched our daughters grow and become the wonderful young women they are today.  Goodbye to the home that saw them through life's changes; from first dances to first heart-breaks.  The home in which our daughter's boyfriend asked for our blessing before he asked for her hand in marriage. 

No circumstance, just goodbye.  Goodbye to the four-square court on the basement floor that has long since been painted over.  The court that was hand painted by me and decorated by our daughters with flowers and rainbows and warm weather scenes; the result of too many days stuck inside during a deep freeze.

No fanfare, just goodbye.  Goodbye to the hermit crab cemetery under the bay window.  Goodbye to the cat graveyard at the edge of the property where we said farewell to Mufasa and Chubby and Little Boo long before this day.

No big blow-out, just goodbye.  Goodbye to the home in which we became empty-nesters as our children each left for college.  Goodbye to the home in which we learned to be "just us" again.

No celebration, just goodbye.  Goodbye to the best neighbor a person could ask for; our former high school principal who has a heart of gold and the best stories around.  A guy to whom whose wife we said goodbye way too soon.  A guy we're going to miss terribly.

No last hoorah, just goodbye.  Goodbye to the small town where we grew up.  The town in which I watched a handsome young man drive by my parent's house on his way home from work every afternoon.  The one I hoped would see me sitting on the front porch reading a book as he went by.  The one I eventually married and with whom I built this home in which we raised our family.  This home for which we now shed a few tears.  This home to which we say goodbye.  

Today we said goodbye.  But today we also said hello.  Hello to life's next journey.  Hello to finding a new home where we'll welcome family and friends.  A home that we'll lovingly and painstakingly make our own.  A new home with new adventures and new memories.  A home filled with our children and grandchildren.  Our forever home....