Buy My House

For far too long now, I've held on to my house much like I held on to my marriage; because of my kids. Right now it's the middle of the night as I write this, the teenagers are all snug in their beds, but I'm the one with the sugarplum visions of shiny new condominiums with granite kitchen counters dancing in my head.

I remember when we first moved here 14 years ago - "moving up" from a twin in the city to a non-descript 4 bedroom single further out in the burbs - how one short walk "around back" and suddenly life was never the same again. Canopies of mature trees towering over a hidden jewel of a backyard that included among other things, a real live babbling brook and a swing hung by two 20 foot ropes - now frayed but still doing the job. That swing has seen all ages grace its lovely worn wooden seat - even my mother hopped on it one late spring night during my oldest daughter's first communion party. My mother is pretty much confined to a wheelchair these days.

It was the back yard that sold us on the house, really - and it has served us well. The creek was the perfect spot for two little boys who loved building bridges with old cast off 2x4's, for catching crayfish ("Mom, A lobster!") For snake spotting, for lining with daylilies and irises and slippery stepping stones perfect for jumping, perfect for breaking on through to the other side.

A thatched roof storage shed shrouded by huge rhododendron bushes turned into a playhouse for about five years; a secret clubhouse with entry granted by passwords known only to my younger daughter and her girlfriends. The lawn used to be much lusher, much greener - but slip n' slides and summer sleepovers in staked tents had a tendency to leave bare patches after a while. And when it snows, like tonight? So beautiful it could take your breath away.

But now my children have put away their childish things. They lead busy lives that center around high school friends and myspace.com and learning how to drive, drive away from this house. The backyard sits unused, unappreciated except by me when I'm at the kitchen sink or at my desk in front of the living room windows.

Eventually we'll figure out a price tag for the house and do a little sprucing and painting and the sale sign will go up soon enough. But that backyard is where the sale will happen.

Probably in the late springtime, when those irises are in full bloom again.