Hoffman Happenings

It has been a long time since I updated this blog. I guess we have been too busy with living life. Today, I remembered that the blog existed and decided to post some thoughts about big changes in our lives.

Fifteen years ago we moved into our beautiful home. We chose the floor plan and watched it be built. When it was safe enough, Charissa and Harrison (ages four and two) would wander the unfinished home and take turns hiding in the narrow linen closet. We pretended to be surprised every time they called us to the door and we opened it.

Soon after we moved in we woke, came downstairs and discovered that our back yard was full of cows. Apparently, the cows that once knew our neighborhood to be their grazing land tried to reclaim it. We all laughed as they played with toys in the kids' sandbox and removed the grill cover. We laughed when the farmer arrived and chased them (including an angry bull) out of the neighborhood.

Then there were not-so-pleasant memories. Just six months after moving in, Tom developed a rare, mysterious neurological condition called "Dystonia". However, it took months to figure out what it actually was and even longer to figure out how we were going to live with it since there was no cure. When Tom couldn't return to work, I remember the panic of trying to figure out how we were going to pay for this house that we loved so dearly and with God's help and an extremely stubborn disposition, we kept it. It has not been easy but we have never missed a house payment. We traded jobs and Tom became the keeper of the home and primary caregiver of the kids when I returned to working full time.

This beautiful home is full of happy memories. It welcomed Audrey home from the hospital, it celebrated each milestone and each birthday with us. We had race car parties, puppy parties, pizza parties, mystery parties, art parties, baking parties, movie nights, and sleepovers (who are we kidding...they didn't sleep at all). We scrimped and saved and built a fence and play fort with swings and monkey bars. We rescued a dog, then a cat, then another cat, two goldfish, a hamster, and another dog! We played hours and hours and hours of hide and seek...even when our kids got bigger. We built raised garden beds and started a square foot garden after hours of research about organic gardening. We had epic nerf gun battles, water fights and backyard camp outs. We built really cool loft beds for the girls. When the kids outgrew the play fort, Tom turned it into a backyard "pub". He built benches and a fire pit and we added outdoor lights, bar stools and a custom sign. We held Charissa's graduation open house here - in the home that was her school from kindergarten through high school graduation.

This home has been a refuge- a place of love, fun, and lots and lots of really hard work.

We love our neighbors, our green way, the trees we planted...one to remember our growing up in Indiana (tulip poplar) and one to remember my sweet mother (dogwood).

We love this place more than any other place but yesterday, we signed a contract and we will leave and a new family will move in. And while I know that we need to do this...that it is necessary and right...I feel a bit heartbroken. I know that we can work hard to build new memories in a new house but in my heart I feel it will never be the same. Our kids are big now. These walls have sheltered us through sunshine and storms. They know our saddest sorrows and our happiest joys.

It's time to move to a smaller home and think about college tuition and lots and lots of really hard work to help our kids have a strong future. In time, it will be okay. I know it's true. But you may see me shed a few tears before we get there.