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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