My house is filled with dog hair. We have only one dog – Morgan, a sweet, stupid mixed breed mutt. Some of her hair is long, some short. All of it is black, and it blows around the house in every increasing tumbleweeds. So, that was my first goal in my time off from being a lawyer: clean the house from top to bottom to get ahead of the hairy mess. It would only take a couple days, I told myself.
It’s been a month. In that time, I’ve done a lot. I said good-bye to my childhood home. I have a lot of good memories – funny ones, mostly. But leaving it for the last time wasn’t hard. I still have the memories; they have nothing to do with the physical house.
Before that, I combed through the rooms for any sentimental memorabilia I wanted to keep, and my brother and I ended up with far too many photos, diplomas, certificates and awards that my parents received over the course of their lives. I’ve also ended up with all of my dad’s books. Books were always important in our lives, but I never realized how many were in that house until they arrived at mine. Imagine a stack of books four feet wide, three feet deep and more than five feet high. And I’ve now sorted through every one of them now.
In the middle of the month, my son graduated from college – a moment made all the more special when my dad, an emeritus faculty member of the College of Wooster, awarded Andrew his diploma. Then I threw a party at my dad’s house – yes, the same one we were in the process of cleaning out. It was the first time we met many of the people who have been important to Andrew during the last four years, and it provided Dad’s neighbors a chance to wish him a final farewell.
I painted the basement where my office is (including the ceiling and floor), and finally got the furniture arranged and the pictures up. Then Andrew arrived home, and I’ve had to incorporate his things into the house for now. And we headed off to Hanover College in Indiana to the graduation of our friend, Taylor Elliott. We arrived back to have my brother show up with a truck, and unloaded the furniture from my dad’s house that now belongs to Andrew. But since he doesn’t have his own place yet …
In the course of all this, I finalized my novel, Foreseen – accepting the final tweaks and corrections before publication. My first novel – finished. And I completed the first round on a novel I am editing.
So, my past month has been one of transitions. Physical transitions, life transitions, and career transitions. But my house is still filled with dog hair. I guess some things never change.
Dog Hair and Life Transitions
It’s been a month. In that time, I’ve done a lot. I said good-bye to my childhood home. I have a lot of good memories – funny ones, mostly. But leaving it for the last time wasn’t hard. I still have the memories; they have nothing to do with the physical house.
In the middle of the month, my son graduated from college – a moment made all the more special when my dad, an emeritus faculty member of the College of Wooster, awarded Andrew his diploma. Then I threw a party at my dad’s house – yes, the same one we were in the process of cleaning out. It was the first time we met many of the people who have been important to Andrew during the last four years, and it provided Dad’s neighbors a chance to wish him a final farewell.
I painted the basement where my office is (including the ceiling and floor), and finally got the furniture arranged and the pictures up. Then Andrew arrived home, and I’ve had to incorporate his things into the house for now. And we headed off to Hanover College in Indiana to the graduation of our friend, Taylor Elliott. We arrived back to have my brother show up with a truck, and unloaded the furniture from my dad’s house that now belongs to Andrew. But since he doesn’t have his own place yet …
So, my past month has been one of transitions. Physical transitions, life transitions, and career transitions. But my house is still filled with dog hair. I guess some things never change.