We are Officially Houseless...The Boat is Our Home

September 27, 2012

Late this afternoon, our attorney left the closing for our house, with check in hand.  It had seemed like forever since we signed the contract to sell, but in reality, it was less than three months.  Since the offer was made less than a week after the house went on the market, the wait to close seemed endless.

We are officially houseless - the boat is now our home.  We are so thankful that we were able to spend 30 years at 115 Huntleigh Ave, in a great neighborhood and in a house that was perfect for us.  The house was not too big and not too small, and had lots of charm.  With many improvements that have been done in the past five years, the biggest being a new kitchen with a dishwasher, we hated to sell it.  But, the time had come...the boat was our home, and we didn't want to have to close up the house for winter, rake the leaves, mow the lawn and make sure the driveway was shoveled for another year.

Since it was so much work getting the house ready to turn over to its new owners, we really didn't have a lot of time to wax nostalgic, although we will miss it.

Thirty years ago, after the closing to buy our house (and before we moved in), the first meal we had was wine and cheese and crackers, sitting on the livingroom floor.  We thought we would do the same thing for our last meal in the house, but we decided it would be too painful.  So, we brought the wine to Florida, and we are celebrating our first meal in the only home we now own, the boat.  But, 30 years later, we will be sitting on the settee, not on the floor.   

In the end, you really never own things.  You only have a chance to use them for a while before you pass them on. 

Joyce
Bradenton, FL