down the front yard path

i drove with noah and kristi and their four kids from san diego to salt lake city. great road trip. we went directly to hires big h, a drive-in diner that is just classic for us. we ate our burgers on the curb in front of the car, in our pajamas (we left san diego super early that morning). the kids were sticky and frizzy and barefoot – clearly displaying twelve hours spent in the back seat of a van. it was awesome.

we went to my parent’s house in park city and reunited with our two brothers talmadge and eli. our parents sat us down first thing and told us some big news – they had officially sold the salt lake city house we had all grown up in. for the last couple of years the house had renters in it, and its random closets and attics still held our possessions and memories. two weeks ago some signatures were signed on some lines on some papers and then our lifelong home suddenly and really wasn’t ours anymore.

my brothers, parents and i smashed in the car and drove down to augusta way to help clear out the last lingering eyre remnants in the house. i want to always remember that night, because it was so special. we pulled all kinds of random bits and memories out of cupboards and corners and reminisced with tender, glowing hearts. we found treasures and laughed and recalled with earnest, dense nostalgia. my legs felt like jelly as i walked through the halls and tried to soak up the unparalleled feeling in that house. my brothers put on their old letterman jackets and student government sweaters and i smiled on all those years of idolizing their teenage selves. we sat together at the kitchen table for a few moments. then my dad hollered “huddle!” and we gathered in the entryway, put our arms around each other in a circle and offered deep gratitude to heaven for a 35 year happy home. i opened my misty eyes and looked into my mom’s just as a couple tears rolled down both of our faces in unison. we closed the front door, walked down the front path, smashed back into the car, and drove home from home.

what a ginormous blessing it is to have had a house like that, positively overflowing with love; to have had a front yard path that, when walked down, clutches the heart and jerks the most earnest of tears.

to read more about jb mopeltel (as we affectionately named our house decades ago), click here.