Headline: IT'S TOUGH TO SAY GOODBYE TO A HOME THAT SO REFLECTS US
Reporter: By Greg Freeman

Publication: ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Last Printed:  Sun. May 19, 2002
Section: METRO, Page: C3, Edition: FIVE STAR LIFT

This is it. The boxes are mostly packed, the moving company's been notified, and the new place is ready for us to move in.
    
Moving day comes this week. We're leaving our St. Louis home of 17 years. The muscular dystrophy that I've developed in recent years makes it too difficult for me to go up and down the steps. So we're moving to a one-story condo, also in the city. 

It's not easy leaving this old house. So many memories were made here. Will's first bike. The many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, the many Mother's Days and Father's Days. The magical times when Will was so full of excitement he would wake up at 3 a.m. to look for his presents under the Christmas tree. The bevy of dogs and cats who endeared themselves as part of our lives over the years. The special evening that we took pictures of Will and his prom date on the wooden staircase, a photo in which he looked just like my late father.
    
The house on the street with the funny name that no one could ever pronounce or spell: DeGiverville. The words, "That's D-e-G-i-v-e-r-v-i-l-l-e, " were regularly heard whenever one of us was on the phone.

One memory that endures is my Fourth of July barbecue. I had hung our American flag from the front porch. As I grilled steaks and basted ribs, the wind suddenly kicked up, and rain started to pour. The next thing I knew, my flag was soaring past me, down the alley, leaving me to run and retrieve it in the downpour.
     Another memory that comes to mind was eight years ago, when we hosted a Mexican family of seven at our home. Some members of the family, who were friends of ours, spoke only Spanish, so Spanish was heard throughout the 10 days they were here. The only television channel that played was Univision, the Spanish-speaking cable network. The house was packed, and the visit drove my wife, Elizabeth - who understands Spanish but doesn't speak it - up the wall.

When we bought the house, we thought that it would be the home we would get old in, maybe retire in. We loved the two-story home with its sturdy, colonial-style columns in front, its liberal use of wood throughout the interior, its gorgeous staircase, its leaded glass windows, its 1916 construction. We could imagine this area when it was built. Only 12 years after the World's Fair, there probably wasn't much here at the time. The fair probably was a major asset in developing the area around it.
     We always thought the house was in a terrific location, too. Walking distance from Forest Park, just a stone's throw from the History Museum. Less than a block away from a MetroLink stop. And being part of the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood made us part of a community steeped in tradition, a neighborhood that is diverse, both racially and economically.

We put a lot of loving care into this old house over the years. We installed ceiling fans in every room. We updated the kitchen and installed a dishwasher, one that Elizabeth swore she would never need, and later couldn't live without. We adorned the living room walls with new wallpaper. We painted the mustard yellow dining room white. We built a deck in the back yard, and added a privacy fence. We added outdoor lighting. We redid the bathroom, got rid of the old claw-foot tub and added a shower. The house reflects us.
    
In many ways, the house today is so much better than it was when we moved here. Of course, the new residents will surely look at the place, scratch their heads about why we did this or that, and make plenty of changes over time as well. They may update the kitchen again, redo the deck, change the wallpaper, choose a color other than white for the bedrooms. They'll surely make the house reflect them. That's how houses evolve.
    
So while our wallpaper, our dishwasher, our ceiling fans and our bathroom will all go with the house, our memories won't. Those we'll take with us.

Meanwhile, the new place we're moving into is very nice. It has many amenities that our house didn't: central air conditioning, for instance; a parking garage; and more than one bathroom. The carpeted floors will be nice too. At the new place, we'll surely gather countless new memories.

But we'll always cherish the old.


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