Life is Writing Another Story

 

In my last post I mentioned that whenever life presents a new story then I take to the keyboard and write.

Here I am.

Life is presenting a new story.

On April 22nd, we moved into our new cottage in Albany.  Three of the four of us left Rochester and began a new life in Albany. (One of us still had six weeks of college classes left and took up with our neighbors to finish the semester out.)

Can I just be transparent with you?  Rochester never felt like home to us.  We met some amazing folks that we absolutely love and miss terribly, please don't get me wrong!  But Rochester (Pittsford) was harsh for our family on so many levels.  The initial move there was traumatic.  Andy's job experience with the company we moved there for...also VERY traumatic.  Two of the five years there were spent under a pandemic!  We just never truly felt endeared to the place.  We tried! But it was evident that we were there for life lessons and relationships so when the opportunity literally fell into Andy's lap to move us, we took it!  And here we are!

Ben started a new high school last week.  Yes, with less than two months to go in his junior year we transplanted him. Learning from his past (11 different schools growing up), Andy shared that he truly believed it was better to start with a couple of months to go than to wait an entire summer in anxiety with no friends.  Oh wise Andy!  He was right! Ben has a great first impression of his high school, of the culinary program he entered at the local vo-tech school, and of ALL of his teachers! (If you know Ben, then you know!)

Andy moved over the end of January to begin his new job which he truly enjoys.  He lived in an AirBnB apartment for three months and it was a little oasis.  While being apart was so very difficult, the apartment came with extra bedrooms so the kids and I would often alternate jumping on the train to visit Dad for the weekend and house-hunt.  (The house-hunt is a total blog post in and of itself! OOF!)

I left my job at Sutherland High School and am back to full-time wife and mothering.  For those of you who know me well, you know this is my favorite career and I love it!  Actually, I'm more of a full-time unpacked right now...but HEY! It comes with its own set of rewards!  Just yesterday I found my bedding! WINNING!

Now I've caught you up on the beginning of our new story. There's so much to see unfold...will Abby move to Albany or stay in Rochester?  Does Ben pass the baking test with muffins that didn't rise? How will Marla and Andy celebrate 26? And what do they NAME THAT HOUSE????  Hmmm....maybe I should try writing a "Choose Your Own Adventure" blog...

(Thanks, Jaime, for encouraging me to write our new story.)

Rochester's Thornfield

                                                    

I said in my last post that I would announce the name of the new home in the next post...so....without further ado......

Rochester's Thornfield

I fought a great struggle with my heart over this one.  In the midst of considering his name (yes, this one is a he!), my niece texted and asked if I could help name her old beauty.  I let her know that naming a home is a terribly personal thing and that I would have to ask her many questions.  Him? Her?  From classic literature? What did she love most about her home? Sweet Niecling said that she loved its tall ceilings and woodwork but mostly that it is a place where people can gather. ❤️ My response was that I immediately thought of the house in the country that Bingley takes in Pride & Prejudice, Netherfield.  I began playing with her last name, Merrillfield? She liked using their last name and wanted to make another play on it...how about Merrily?  PERFECT! I suggested Merrily Hill, since her home sits above her street, and so it is!  My dear girl's first home is Merrily Hill!

So back to my struggle.  It wasn't as easy to name our Pittsford home as it was to name my niece's home.  I had Cainberly for fifteen years- in which time she grew to be such an unequivocal piece of our story that bringing her along to New York almost seemed sacrilege. He is so very different from her...a different age, a different style, a different culture, region, state, history.  I kept getting the feeling that I needed to let her go.  Meanwhile, what of Rochester's house? I noticed that I kept calling him that...Rochester's house. (I should note that, technically, he is not in Rochester but a suburb, Pittsford) And then, of course!  Rochester's house was Thornfield Hall! Oh how I love Jane Eyre! 

 Now please understand, I am not comparing this home to the ill-fated home of Edward Rochester! On the contrary, I expect light and love and happiness in our new life and home!  We are already so blessed by Thornfield. He brings such peace with room to breath, more than one bathroom, and a whole wall to the natural world where we have sat and watched birds, squirrels, deer, and even a fox! If you follow me on Pinterest and you see my "Thornfield" board, now you know that it's ideas for my new home!  Thornfield's doors are always open, won't you drop by sometime?

The Naming of a House

You can't very well name something that doesn't belong to you.  Patience is, to me, the hardest to learn of virtues and I find myself being a student of her always. Waiting. Just waiting. Less than a month.

It really and truly seems like a dream.  I pray every day that come November 3rd the papers are signed, the keys are handed to us, and just as a snap of the fingers, quick and sharp, our lives are changed forever. Do we really become owners of this beautiful home? Do we really get to live in New York? Do our children really get to partake of all these wonderful opportunities? DO WE REALLY HAVE ACCESS TO THREE TOILETS UNDER OUR ROOF????😉😊

I almost feel like naming her would be a jinx, but I know that our God does not work like that.  Still, you can't very well name something that doesn't belong to you.

Naming Cainberly was so easy.  One whimsical day I decided, undoubtably whilst reading Austen, that our home needed a name.  After all, I thought, she is full of care and personality and deserves to be called so much more than "home". Though that little four letter word be packed with so much more than location, it just didn't evoke the feeling in my heart at the thought of her.  What house was charm and grace and love and wisdom and beauty personified? Well, Pemberly of course! And one step away was Cainberly and, thus, naming perfection!

My family thinks it ridiculous.  They always thought it ridiculous.

As we prepared to move, friends began asking "What of Cainberly? Will you name the next house? Will it be Cainberly too?"  I really didn't realize it had become quite the"thing"! I answered vaguely, guaranteeing it would not be decided upon until we owned our next home.  Here we are on the cusp of owning the next home and I'm startled by how much I find myself thinking of this very thing! But I have questions......
Do you name each house individually?
Is it the idea of home that I've given a name to?
If the above is true, she goes with us everywhere we go together so why would I rename her?
Longbourne, Netherfield, Mistlethwaite Manor.....where do I begin for this house?

You can't very well name something that doesn't belong to you.  I will be patient.....and look to you for inspiration,