Wood Banner with Swirls

Thursday, October 14, 2010

These Wooden Beams

About a year ago my mother, upon returning from a weekend get-away with her sister, came bearing gifts. We had moved recently and she proudly presented a wooden plaque for the wall of our sunroom that stated, "A house is made of wooden beams, a home is made of love and dreams.".  It meant more than she would know. My husband and I had purchased two homes before this one and each was new with fresh paint and crisp white trim. Each had new counters and new appliances and new driveways and new landscaping and new neighbors who were less than a stone's throw away.



We both dreamed of a lawn larger than a basketball court, a place for the children to run and play, a place to visit with family and friends on hot Summer days and Crisp afternoons in late Fall. And I secretly dreamed of bright colored walls and carefully sought out accents. We listed and sold our second home in suburbia to move into a older home on the outskirts of town, and going on one year here much has changed but much remains to be done. There are days when I think we should throw in the towel on the place and run straight for the newest subdivided neighborhood but then I remember the dreams that moved in with us. I remember the mural painted by two sweet little girls on the walls - that came before the fresh coat of paint - a color chosen by our family of four. I remember the calloused hands that held the big rubber hammer that pushed each piece of wood flooring flush against the other as the floor in our living room was transformed. And I look out my bedroom window at the giant oak that has lived here for decades before me and know that my roots were dragged with me when I left my home for college all of those years ago and that I've carried them until now. Justin and I have found our "home" with our precious girls and I know that our roots are intermingling with those of the giant oak and are becoming quickly attached as we build, together, a foundation for love and dreams.

I hope that you will visit often as I share what happens behind "these wooden beams" and the other wooden beams that I encounter. They all have a story!