We’re often asked these days what we’re going to do with the house while we’re away.  Since we do plan to return to Sedgewick, we’re keeping it and have arranged to have Chrissy and her husband, Buck, move in and take care of it for us.

Chrissy first came to live with us in 2002 when she was in high school.  She was a kid who needed a home and ours was a home that needed a kid.  Our youngest, Nathan, was about to leave for college and I didn’t feel ready for an empty nest.  She quickly became part of the family and holds a very special place in our hearts.  We often hear of grown children leaving home only to return again.  That’s been Chrissy.  After two years of college in Calgary, she came back for the summer of 2006.  At the end of that August, we celebrated her marriage to Buck.  They were both with us for awhile earlier this fall and are now renting a tiny apartment here in Sedgewick until we leave.

We plan to store some of our furniture as well as the contents of our cupboards and closets in the basement while we’re away so that Buck and Chrissy can move their own things in.  That has necessitated a major clean out!  It’s amazing what you accumulate after twenty-six years in one house but over the past month, we’ve become pretty good at getting rid of stuff.  Many loads have been hauled to the local thrift store and the garbage men must be wondering what’s going on as the weekly pile by the street has been much bigger than usual.  We started with the storage room which now seems much bigger than before.  I’ve also completely cleaned out the office space that I no longer need and today the linen closets were done.  There are still several closets to go as well as the kitchen cupboards but we still have two months!

We also owe a huge note of gratitude to our niece, Tina, who teaches grade 5.  Richard taught grade 5 for most of his career and I taught a wide variety of elementary and junior high subjects.  Over the past 32 years, we accumulated a lot of valuable teaching resources.  We didn’t want to see them go to waste but saw no reason to keep to them.  We passed some things on to our colleagues at the end of June then invited Tina to visit in August and take away whatever she could use.  She left with almost everything that was left!  What a big help that was to us.  Thanks, Tina!