But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” Ruth 1:16-17 (NIV)
Today, six weeks after our water pipe leak and flood, we finally heard from the insurance company about how much money will be getting to do the repairs. Not having gotten any estimates yet, we do not know how far the dollars will go so have no idea what we can afford. We are hoping to have a contractor come on Thursday to do measurements for new kitchen and bathroom cabinets. We will probably have to invest most of the money in those and then, try to repair the drywall, put down the flooring, and replace the baseboards ourselves. Up until now, I have suppressed any dreaming about what the house might become for two reasons. One, it seemed wrong to complain about a concrete floor considering what I have seen in Guatemala. And two, because I know when fully unleashed, I would fashion a home out of Southern Living magazine which will be far beyond our reach. But, today, with the promise of a check in the mail, I allowed myself to do a little dreaming. I thought about white cabinets with a moss green countertop, not only in the kitchen, but a short ring around the breakfast room creating storage space and seating. I envisioned a floor to ceiling pantry with drawers that would slide out. I imagined glass fronted cabinets with my brightly colored fiesta ware dishes shining in recessed lights. From the kitchen I moved to our bedroom which could become a den with a sleeper sofa because husband and I would move upstairs to youngest son’s room since he is leaving the nest later this year. It is a much larger room where our furniture would not be crammed in, and I could have a corner with a bookshelf and a chaise lounge to read or surf the Internet. It also has a large recessed window area just the right size for my desk and a small office. And two closets instead of one large one so husband and I could have our own space. Then, of course, we would have to remodel the upstairs bathroom, but husband could finally get the soaker tub he has wanted. On and on, I went until the entire house looked lovely and bright. At least in my mind. When husband came home from work, he had a headache so I kept my ideas to myself until after dinner. When asked if I could talk to him about the house, he rubbed his head and said he would listen, but didn’t want to make any decisions tonight. I agreed, after all, we really don’t have any facts about how much it all would cost, but that didn’t stop me from launching into my plans. He listened, asked questions, frowned at a few ideas and then, caught me completely off guard when he said, “I’ve been thinking that we should do the bare minimum to fix up the house and put it on the market so we could move to Georgia.” For Pete’s Sake! My husband who has only lived in three houses his entire life, two of those with me, who hasn’t ever lived farther than 20 miles from where he was born, wants to move? To Georgia? That’s a lot more extreme that debating new cabinet colors. What about our jobs? Our parents? Our friends? Where would we work? How would we live? We are too young to retire and too old to find new careers. He is serious enough to stop me in my tracks and step back from my dreaming. We have a lot to talk about. I really do not think we would move, at least out of the county and away from our family and jobs. It is odd to find myself in the position of being the least adventurous and creative one in our marriage. But, we will talk.
Wow – that was out of left field! I would want to know why… why move. Why Georgia? I agree, there is lots for your to talk about.
Like you, I daydream a lot about my house… what I would do if I could, if I had the money… Your vision of your house sounds lovely.
WOW! Where in Georgia. I often dream about doing that and moving to Washington State.
Oh. My. Northern Georgia could work…or on up into the Carolinas. Hard to imagine any of this.