I picked Elizabeth up from her sleepover this morning in BFE and took the long way home. We were dropping Cate's keys off at the bookstore, running to the bank and such, so since we were so close to our old Reston townhouse I decided to take Elizabeth for a tour of the neighborhood.The first thing Elizabeth noticed was that her tree was gone!
Of course, her tree isn't gone. She just doesn't recognize it. The tree is bigger and Elizabeth is bigger too. She's standing in front of it.
We walked into the backyard and visited where Todd is buried. Todd's flagstone has been gone for a couple of years but he seems undisturbed. He died the night before Thanksgiving in 2001, and everyone was very sad, including Elizabeth. Todd had not been in good shape, though, for some time, and I think Cate was glad we were there when he died rather than him dying while we were gone.
The young couple that bought the townhouse from us still live there and the husband was out on the back deck. I asked if that was the house (I lost count how many decks there were in the back, and they replaced our old deck) and he invited us in to see the place. They've done some nice work in the kitchen, about as much work as we've done with ours.We capped off the tour de Headlands with a quick walk to the playground. Elizabeth chuckled at Da's Bear Right sign in the circle of Headlands Circle, remembered rescuing the turtle in the circle some rainy day years ago, and mourned the loss of the lion statue in a neighbor's front yard.
Of course, Robert was born in this house. Cate took him to 2055 earlier in the week. He asked her, "which window was I born in?" He found which mailbox it was by matching the numbers and also missed the lion. They also saw what we saw: a picnic bench in the green grass park, which hadn't had anything before but empty ground.
5 comments:
Nonna got a little emotional reading this post. I remember playing with E in the park there. I think we have some pictures from that playground. We will have to get them out. See you in a few hours! It is 81 degrees and breezy.
oh... walking down memory lane and the lovely townhouse...
I remember when Alex would toddle in and out every day that Cate took care of her. She loved it there and learned so much. And liked being a "little sister" so much she still asks to have an older sibling! She also got some great instruction on how to be a big sister from Elizabeth :)
And yes, she remembers the lion statue too. Always had to have a walk there at least once a week.
Hope you all enjoy your new home as much as we've loved having you here.
I think Nikki misses Todd, too. She's waiting for a visit, but I think it will have to hold off a little bit after they arrive -- I need to clean the apartment badly. Maybe I'll bring her by for a visit some night after work this week.
It is hard not to get emotional with all these "last times"...there were so many memories made there at the townhouse! The day you moved in and sleeping with E on the floor that first night, planting that little garden along the deck, playing with the hose in the summer, E's little "Play house" under the stairs...and R being born!
Here is to making new memories in MN!!!! God bless!
This is the first of the 'last time' posts that really struckme. I have done some of the same things with John and Emma. FOr the most part they have no memory of any home but their current one, which stings a bit given the fun we had when they were very little.
Pretty soon, we'll all be in different places making new memories.
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