A gut reaction to the news...

I saw this posted on Facebook...  a news story about someone accidentally donating a wedding dress to Goodwill...

https://www.wave3.com/2020/01/29/husband-accidentally-donates-wifes-wedding-dress-goodwill

Sorry, I can't generate any sympathy for this one. Attach all the sentiment you want to it, it's just a dress.  She still has her husband, and that's the most important thing!  At least that's what people tell me, whenever I miss anything that I lost.  It's one item.  The drama that people can create over one item...

My wedding dress burned.  So did my mother's wedding dress, which she'd given to me. So did all my wedding photos, my wedding souvenirs, my engagement ring...  Oh, and everything else I owned.   I have good insurance, I can replace stuff -- but how do you replace a wedding dress?  Things passed from generation to generation, things I thought I'd pass to my children...  Memories that I want to share - that are just words now, not things, not even pictures.

I get kind of blue these days. I've spent the last few months in a "get things done" manner.  No time to fret, just get the house designed, ordered, built, get moved in, do a Christmas celebration, get the kids back to school ...  and now, success.  We're in the new house.  Great.  Mission accomplished!

Except, I still miss my old house. I miss my things.  I'm very remiss in getting "The List" to the insurance company, the list of personal property.  Sounds so simple - make a list of the personal property that was lost in the fire.  Except that every item I write down, it's something that I lost.  I just can't make myself work on it for very long - or at all, sometimes.

Forward is good.  I'm working on how to market my own business, and I've been asked to be involved in a couple of community activities.  My friends are comfortable in my new house, and I'm happy to be back in Winthrop.  The place that I feel most "at home" here is at my dining room table -- which is no surprise, since that's where we gather.  Expect to be invited to sit and a have a cup of coffee or tea if you stop by!

I'm working on feeling that same sense of "at home" in other places.  The living room is comfortable, but I expect it will change as I decide what we really need for furniture...  My office should feel at home, it's a mess!  The upstairs is still just a place I go to sleep, I'm not settled into my room at all.  But the other night I went up the stairs in the dark, and it was very dark!!  but I decided NOT to turn on the light, that this is MY HOUSE and I am going to be able to go up the stairs in the dark!  It was an insignificant moment, but one that I'm claiming as a win.

So it's life.  It's up and down, happy and sad.  It's the way it goes.  I'm thankful for all the good things, and that keeps me going.