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The house we live in now is where I intend to spend the majority of my life. That\u2019s a strange feeling. After I left my parent\u2019s house I was in a constant state of moving, always thinking of the next place, unsure of what furniture to buy and then not buying any because, who knows, the next place may have a square dining room and I may want a round, not rectangular, table.<\/p>\n
Paul and I have looked at hundreds of houses in the Seattle area. Perhaps I\u2019m difficult to please but that\u2019s a story for another post. There was one house that we almost bought. It had a style similar to ours, 1950\u2019s era, modern architecture, with a view of the lake. It was badly in need of a remodel and while we waited for an architect to meet us, I asked the selling agent about the giant front porch swing that was sitting in the middle of the living room. He said the owner, an elderly woman who raised her children there, drove half-an-hour every morning to sit in this chair and stare at the lake. She planned to do this every day until the house sold.<\/p>\n
Then the architect came rushing in carrying on about plans to raise the ceiling ten feet and remove the wall that separated the living from the dining. I couldn\u2019t do it. When I looked over the old green carpets, I didn\u2019t see dirt and ick, I saw kids in soccer cleats and muddy dog prints. I didn\u2019t want to paint over this woman\u2019s childrens\u2019 growth charts. I didn\u2019t want to be the one to take this away from her.<\/p>\n