Something Necessary

I've had many memorable birthdays and then some that I don't remember (like my first three). On Tuesday, while I could tell you that I got blitzed and swung from the chandelier nekkid, I actually did something sobering. I finished packing up the last of my mother's furniture and belongings in her house.

My mom departed this life last year in May and her directive to me was to sell her house and split the proceeds with my brother. In her will, she had a list of what was to go to whom and what should go to Goodwill. My mother was so organized that sometimes it's hard to believe that we share the same gene pool.

She wrote her own obituary and the entire order of her funeral service several years before she actually left here. I used to always tell her, "Would you stop talking like this... it's ghoulish. You're gonna mess around and outlive everybody." She'd always say, "You never know." And, you don't.

It's almost been a year now and her house has finally been sold. The new owner is just days away from moving in so, Tuesday, I rented a truck and rode with my daughter's fiance to her home, where I was joined by my aunt and several of my cousins, who also rented vehicles. We packed up everything... it was a labor of love.

We laughed, joked, and did the somber work as a kind of tribute to her memory. Every year, my entire family used to have Christmas dinner at my parents house... uncles, aunts, cousins, and their spouses and children. We had polyannas, danced, sang, made home movies, the works. Of course, someone always got drunk and did or said something that we would laugh about for years. It was good times.

I got married at that house 20 years ago... right on the lawn. We had our wedding reception there too, on what seemed to be the hottest day of the year. I can't even watch the wedding video anymore... there's just too many people in it who are no longer here.

We ordered hoagies, steaks, and pizza and had a nice meal... all of us family members. I was especially glad that my daughter's fiance was there... it was kinda like his initiation into the family and, for the record, he fit in well. They loved him and put him right at ease.

When we were finished, all of the U-Haul trucks were filled, and we were ready to leave, I suppose it was fitting that I was the last one out of the house... the last one to lock the door. The house didn't seem the same empty. I wasn't saying goodbye to my mom... just a house, a place, and time.

This is not the birthday story that you'd expect from me, I know... but, it's still a birthday I will remember. A birthday in which I did something necessary.

(Thank you to everyone who stopped by on Tuesday to wish me a "Happy Birthday!")