Moving to a House! by Luke Byrd

We are moving into a house soon!  
The house is wonderful.  
I like the broken tree in the backyard.  

(It's the tree on the far right.  The one on the ground.)

We can even go deep back into the woods, I'll just have to take care of Sam.  I plan to look for deer tracks and deer.  I'm gonna hafta teach Sam how to be careful and quiet.  I hope he doesn't get a cat claw on him.  But, I don't think there are cat claws.  I bet if I find a lake back there I'll just walk across it.  But, I'll probably need some warm boots.  First, I'll hafta go in by myself to see if it's too deep for Sam.  I'll roll my pants up and if I still get my pants wet I'll just go inside and get dry clothes on.  


Oh, and sticks.  A LOT of STICKS!  I like a lot of sticks!  I love sticks because I like to bang trees with them.  


I like that Zoe might go in the woods with me, too.

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The afternoon of August 18th of 2011 we walked through a house we felt could be our next home ~ our possible nest.  Lydia was with us.  She explored the property inside and out.  She loved house shopping and frequently took notes as we viewed different listings.  She loved this particular house.  We all did.  She especially loved that this house had a backyard complete with a "forest" and its own creek.  Afterwards, we went out to eat dinner at Cracker Barrel and discussed as a family the potential of this being our next home ~ it was a unanimous yes!  Our bellies were full of country cooking and our minds spun with the possibility of being homeowners again.  As bedtime was approaching the kids buzzed around, PJ-donning and teeth-brushing.  I noticed Lydia seemed a bit clumsy.  I summonsed her for a quick eye-tracking test...something she had become quite accustomed to since her 9-11 diagnosis.  Nothing seemed too different.  Next I had her perform the walk-in-a-straight-line test.  She couldn't do it without stumbling.  I always tried to keep myself in check with being Lydia's mother first.  Testing produced anxiety, I tried not to over test.  Having a background in nursing, especially working with oncology patients for much of my nursing career, had proved to be helpful when caring for my child with a brain tumor.  Not over-analyzing every little finding was a struggle and doing so could potentially land me in a state of utter anxiety.   After several re-tests, we decided to e-mail Dr. Gold with our findings and let him make the call.  A week later she went for an MRI which revealed changes.  Changes that changed our whole trajectory for the next few months.  Needless to say, house shopping became low on our priority totem pole.  
    
    *click on Changes to read previous post for details

Fast forward to the first week in December ~ I found myself checking the MLS just to see what was out there now, letting my thoughts take a break from grieving.  Scanning through the listings, I noticed the gray house was still on the market.  Soon we were going to take a second peep, to see if this still felt like the nest for these storm-weary byrds.  

We're scheduled to close next Thursday, Lord willing.  I sit here in a make-shift box castle strewn with light sabers and legos.  


Getting ready to fly this coop.  


Looking forward to nesting in our new haven.

This house was built the year she was born.  
It wears the color of her middle name. 

She once walked through this dwelling.  She loved it.  

That makes me smile.

I could dwell on the thought of how she never lived with us in this house.
That would be diving head first into a tidal wave of sadness.


I'm holding fast to the Anchor of Hope.


I've decided that I'll focus on the thought of her dwelling with Him. 
She is truly Home.

Surely goodness and mercy 

shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall 

dwell in the house of the Lord

forever.

Psalm 23:6