I was born on a very cold February day. I was brought home to the house I grew up in. The House that Built Me….
It rarely “snows” here but that’s usually the only time I take pics of the house
You see I never changed permanent addresses. Sure I went off to college for 5 years and moved quite frequently while living in Tuscaloosa but my official address never changed. My driver’s license has never had another address and my default address has always been the same. Even my phone number has never changed. I’ve had the same home phone number for 27 years. I’ve had the same cell phone number since I got one at 15.
No matter where I roamed, no matter how far I went, I could always count on 2 things. My address and my phone number. I could rattle off both without a second thought. Like the time I managed to cut my head open at the bottom of the hill I lived on. I was riding my bike, wrecked in some guys yard, and bleeding from a large gaping hole in my head I could still tell the guy my phone number.
I had a landing spot. A never changing, ever constant place in the world. I had a room with my stuff and a bed that belonged to me. Even though I often flip flopped rooms with my sister and the walls in those 2 rooms were probably painted every color imaginable, I had a place to call my own.
The day I graduated High School
And up until about middle school the Kitchen was 70’s un-fabulous with gold fruit wall paper. My sister and I made mother & daddy promise never to put fruit wallpaper up again.
My 3rd birthday party. I loved trains. My aunt made this cake. It had real pictures in the engine. It was the coolest ever.
I got my first bike there and I learned how to ride it in the driveway. I also lost the training wheels there too.
Christmas Morning age 4
I had countless scraps, bumps, bruises, and cactus spikes removed and doctored up in the hall bathroom. It was the “big” bathroom. It was where I could find my mother doing her hair and make up in the mornings.
I wore high tops before they were cool.
Countless fishing trips began and ended in the driveway. Time spent sitting on a lake waiting on the fish to bite was never time wasted. Just don’t ask who’s fault it was the one time the boat keys got left at the house because we’ll both just say we thought the other one had gotten the keys off the hook.
So many memories made in this house. 27 years for me. Over 40 years for my parents. But that’s all about to change….
You see my parent’s bought a new house. So not only will I be leaving on the World Race where my address will constantly change, My address back home will also change. It didn’t really start to sink in until the furniture started to get moved out and my home didn’t quite smell like home anymore.
It now is empty and it echoes in here but the memories still exist in my head. They’ll still travel the world with me but it won’t really be the same. I suppose I’m adapting to change a little early. It’s not something I’m really fond of.
I’m trying to adapt but as I look around I can’t help but to think about if walls could talk what stories they would tell…..
Like broken bones and the hours upon hours spent playing barbies….
All the Birthday’s, Christmas’, Easter’s and other holidays that have been celebrated here…
Easter 1988
Granddaddy’s Birthday
Christmas (Yep my stocking goes in the opposite direction)
And then there’s all the traditional milestones that happened here. Like first steps, first words, first fish over 10 pounds, first car, first dates, Prom, Homecoming, graduation and so many others….
Senior Prom 2006
Now the only thing for certain is that I’ve got a permanent spot in the body of Christ and home reserved in heaven. My address on earth may never be the same again. I’ll have to pack all the belongings I need for a year in 2 backpacks weighing less than 70 pounds put together. My home for the next year will be a 30 sq ft tent. But I’m ready to look toward the future. New address. New number. New location. New definition of need. New memories New beginning. New family of friends.
New World Racer.
2 Corinthians 5:16-17
…16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
