RIP
1914-2010

It's the things that nightmares are made of. Living out in Washington, I can isolate myself from the "deconstruction" that took place over the past 2 weeks. I can live in denial (no, not the river that bisects Egypt) and pretend this nightmare never happened. After all, I am 3000 miles away and I have lots of pictures and even more fond memories from my time living down at the river.
I have my own live out here in the Seattle area and I wouldn't trade it for anything. However, comma, a small part of me had hoped that the house would somehow be a small part of my future. Who knows. Maybe a family reunion. Maybe a retirement party. Maybe a relative's wedding that we fly in from Washington to attend. Who knows?
While I know that I am not the first or only person to see their childhood home be dismantled piece by piece, it still cuts to the bone. I am glad that some of the wood was salvaged and will be used in other houses.
I think what hurts the most, aside from losing my "anchor", is the fact that the home that our family lived in for 53 years was regarded as "not worthy" by the current owners. It's like selling your prized '57 Chevy to someone and watching them tear it apart and keep only the frame so they could build a super hot rod. The rest either went to the junkyard or to a parts store.
I don't hold any animosity toward any party involved. Had the shoe been on the other foot, I probably would have done the same thing.
But I am just venting and grieving now and nothing I write here will, nor was ever intended to, change the way events are unfolding. Remember, this is just my therapy for dealing with the loss of something I cared deeply about. It's not like it's the end of the world. It's just a house. I still have my beautiful wife and wonderful family out here in Washington. The entire family as a whole was not weakened by any of the events of the past few years. Even though we are scattered from here to there across the country, we are still and will always remain family no matter how geographically close we all are or what houses we live in.