Goodbye, House! I don't hate you, really!

It's a funny thing when you put your house on the market during a recession.  The house that you used to love and cherish suddenly becomes a source of incredible stress!  It's not my house's fault that selling it was such a long and difficult process, but somehow the house bore the brunt of my frustration.  No house is perfect, but my expectations required it to be.  Each day the house was on the market, was a day that I wandered through it with a critical eye.  Everyday I wondered if people would come and see it that day, and at the beginning I wondered if those people would  fall in love with the beauty and wonderful function of the house.  As time wore on, though, I began criticizing my house for all its imperfections, and eventually, instead of wondering which particulars people would love about the house, I began thinking about whether people would look past its flaws and (please, please) buy it anyway.  The reasons we decided to move had very little to do with the house itself.  The house is beautiful and there is lots of space for living and playing.  This weekend when we hauled the last of the stuff out of the house, and cleaned up for the new owner, I was sad to realize that I had spent most of the last six months resenting this house -- this house that had been a wonderful home for my family and me.  When I walked through the house for the last time, by myself, I cried and I thanked the house for being our home -- for providing us shelter and a place to live and laugh and love!  I made peace with the house, because I wanted to leave with the good feelings that I felt in the house for 3 1/2 years, and forget the bad feelings of the last six months.  

Goodbye, House!  I'm so glad you sold, but I really will miss you!