Home away from home

I met my brother at my parents' new home and used his help in carrying in my old 27" standard definition television. Their second TV was damaged during the move, and I haven't turned this old thing on since I bought a high definition set. So it was a win-win. I got rid of something I didn't need and gave it to someone who could use it. While it's no match for the HDTV we bought them for Christmas two years ago, it will serve them well when they have split interests in what to watch. (Also, that old TV is heavy. I think I strained every muscle in my arms getting it from my apartment to my car.)

My parents were picking up some last possessions still at the parsonage and attending to some other busy back there, so I had to give myself a tour of their new place. True to what I knew, if this hadn't been a foreclosure, they never would have been able to get this much house for their price range. There's no question it's the nicest house they've ever owned or lived in. Good grief, there's a golf course right out the back door.

They're in a suburban development, which is new for them and a little weird to me. Sure, I've lived on my own in the suburbs for a decade and a half, but I've lived in apartments, one with more of small town surroundings and one with more of a city feel. As I went outside late tonight to move my car from the road into the driveway, I was struck by how alien it was. The street is quiet, and there are all these other houses nearby. Where am I?!

My other brother who lives just a couple miles away also came over for supper, so the experience had this odd feeling of seeming like old times when everyone was under the same roof. The marked difference, of course, was the fact that my siblings left to return to their homes as the day wound down.

I think this house is a terrific fit for them, and it should be a good place for when most or all of us are here at the same time. Eventually the novelty will wear off and I'll feel more like I'm in somewhere I've known than an unfamiliar building I'm a guest in. Plus, with all this space, I think everyone can breathe easier.