Leaving a home is usually filled with moments of joy and sadness.
Memories, the reason you are moving, the timing in your life, all play into the emotions of grief.
Even when you are ecstatically thrilled with the idea of moving, there is a change, a loss of the old to embrace and move into the new.
It is common to feel waves of sadness and grief when you leave the past to move into the future.
No matter what the reason is for the move.
When my husband and I found our dream house, I was thrilled to be moving.
But so many things had happened in the house we were leaving.
This was the first house I lived in with my husband.
Our son was born and died while we lived in the house.
My husband left a job to start his own business.
There were nine Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years Eve parties.
Our youngest daughter, Hannah was born here.
We started homeschooling here.
So many memories.
As we packed to move into the new house, I spent time alone in each room.
I talked with my kids and created space for them to share their own memories.
And then we moved.
Ten years later, I sold our dream house after my husband died.
As much as I tried to transform the space and energy of the home, it was time to let it go.
I spent six months writing in a journal, feeling the joy and deep sadness before I put the house on the market.
It had been four years since he had died.
This time I created a ritual to share with my kids.
My daughters were 25, 23 and 16 when we decided to sell our house.
We had cleared out the 3rd floor where my two older daughters shared two bedrooms and a sitting room.
The four of us sat up there with our two cats, the only animals left in the menagerie of dogs, cats, fish, birds, and leopard geckos who had lived here at one time.
We lit a candle and sat quietly together.
I said a prayer of gratitude.
Then we each shared some of our happiest and saddest memories.
We laughed, cried and appreciated the journey in the house.
Then, we walked through every room of the house doing the same thing together.
We had renovated this house, room by room.
One of my daughters wrote poetry all over the walls and ceilings of one of the attic rooms.
We took pictures, read some of the poems and continued to share.
We cooked a favorite meal.
Looked through pictures in a scrapbook.
We had a variety of indoor and outdoor yard sales, inviting friends to come over to say goodbye and share their memories.
I posted the information about the house sale and several people asked to come over and say their own goodbye to the house.
It may seem like we did a lot to say goodbye but it was probably one of the hardest moves for all of us.
I thought this was the house I would grow old in.
My kids loved the house and the land so much, they had talked about living in the house with their kids and building more houses here.
It was on 3.
5 acres.
There was already the foundation for a small house in the back yard.
This could have been a place where we would lead separate lives but share a common plot of land for gatherings.
It was important to sink into our feelings and take the time to say goodbye.
We were all moving into new, exciting places for the next part of our lives.
Even when you are happy and excited about leaving it is important to honor the wide range of feelings.
There is a sadness, and grieving as you let go of one part of your life to move into the next.
Honor the inner and you will release it to make room for the new possibilities.