Am I a square, or will my life come full circle?

Back in my single days in SoFla., I have to say I did not own an appliance with the exception of a toaster. Even though it was "the time to buy" real estate, I never had enough money to put a down payment on a condo. I was basically - no, actually I was- living paycheck to paycheck. I lived in four different apartments apres college and prior to meeting my husband. Home ownership was a foreign concept to me.

I remember fantasizing about owning my own place so I could decorate it how I wanted, and not throw rent money out the window with no equity. The tradeoff was that there was no responsibility whatsoever except to pay the rent, which is why I spent my free time biking, playing tennis, jogging and hanging out at the beach and pool. Hmmmm - sounds like a fantasy life now. What the hell was I thinking?

My husband and I have been paying on our house for over 29 years and recently paid it off. Done - finito - burn the mortgage paper time. I wanted to celebrate when I sent the final balance to the bank, but as I reflected, I put on the brakes.  I started thinking that with all the interest, we probably paid millions for this house that was originally less than $100 thousand which is mind boggling and a bit depressing.

April 1986

 I don't think that we moved into this house expecting to be here this long. We just never left. By the time I was eleven, I had already moved five times. Was staying in the same spot a conscious effort on our part not to move our children around? Sounds like a noble thing to do but honestly, I think it's because my husband and I accumulated too much crap and just couldn't even fathom the amount of energy it would take to move it (especially in the 2-car garage that has never seen a car parked in it, but that's the subject of another post). However, the end result is our kids had a memorable and fun childhood here. We established roots and this house will always be home to them.

Big brother and friend welcoming new addition - March 1990

We were the party house - Christmas parties, birthday parties, communion parties, graduation parties, farewell and come back safe from deployment parties, welcome home from deployment parties. Poker parties, barbecue parties, and finally the most infamous and neighborhood-renowned... Annual Easter Egg Hunt parties.

These egg hunts, where we hid over 300 plastic eggs filled with candy and money, entailed lots of food and drink, and usually ended with fireworks and the obvious issues that come with explosives when the gents igniting them have had a little too much beer. Thankfully, no child or adult was ever hurt, but the woods caught on fire once, another time the roof, and if I remember correctly one year a child's Easter basket bit the dust. In hindsight, we should have had people sign waivers at the door.

Now our grandkids search for the eggs with our neighbors' grandchildren. Kind of nice to keep that tradition going, although I have put my foot down in regards to the fireworks. But if I know my husband, he has a stash somewhere that I don't know about. Probably hidden somewhere in his garage (note I said HIS - I lay no claim to that disaster).

Somehow this old house, its inhabitants, and all the guests survived the many celebrations. It's comforting to know that this house is a part of other families' special memories as well as ours and is continuing on with the grandchildren (think circle).

However, now the house is as creaky as the two of us and in need of renovating and repair. Seems the three of us have grown old together. But here's the irony: now that we finally own the house, it's becoming harder and harder to take care of the beast because of our age. The appliance-free life may be calling us again. Hmmm... hanging out at the beach and pool - not a bad idea - not bad at all. Maybe even a bike with a basket is in my future. Now THAT circle sounds like fun! 

OK, so the body might be a stretch - but I could definitely get the bike!