Today I closed on my house in Wisconsin. It’s official. I live here now. On this holy Thursday, the eve of Good Friday and yet another snow storm, I am more reflective than having more common feelings such as elation, joy, relief, or oh my, what have I done. For me it is more of a calm, reflection of having arrived at some point in my life that came with a great deal of work and was a point that I wasn’t certain I would ever attain.
I had dreamed of owning a house like the one I purchased. I feel in a way that I have achieved a level of independence and security (OK, as secure as one can be with a mortgage), and perhaps a place where I can finally plant some roots (at least for awhile). It’s not that I haven’t owned before. My apartment in New York City was fun, but didn’t seem like entirely mine, and other places I have owned never quite matched my dreams. It’s like I can check this off my list of things to do in this life.
Now buying this house was nice, but certainly not at the top of noteworthy achievements. I still remember how I felt with those other more life changing milestones. Those are memories I will never forget, should never forget. Graduating from high after a period where I wasn’t certain I would finish at all, graduating from college after years of working my way through, graduating from graduate school where I never imagined I would ever be. These were proud moments and I reveled in them. But, even those pale in comparison to life events that have touched and changed my soul.
So, on this holy Thursday, along with celebrating my new home, I am reflecting on the important times of my life, not those things that I have achieved, but on those that I have learned, grasped, received and given. Not what I have achieved, but what I have become. I am celebrating the real gifts in life, those that don’t necessarily come from hard work, but those experiences that have truly transformed me, that have made me learn what it is to give and receive love, and charity, and to have hope.
Filed under: New beginnings
Congratulations!