Barclay Road

This is the first house Mike and I lived in. After marrying in June of 1999, we lived in a one bedroom apartment until we found this little place in September of 2000. We loved it right away and were thrilled when it became ours. Built in 1952, it featured beautiful parquet wood floors, 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and all the charm of a mid-century home. In December of 2004, we brought our twin girls home from the hospital to this home. I logged many hours sitting in the rocking chair in their nursery, nursing, snuggling and patting to sleep my two baby girls. That nursery had the most delicious, buttery yellow walls. I remember the day Mike painted them while I rubbed my enormous pregnant belly with excitement. Oh, the memories in this place!

We moved out of this house in April of 2007 when we decides we needed more than 1100 square feet and one additional bathroom. Since then we have driven by, but never walked through. We would slow down and peer in the windows like creepy stalkers trying to see what the new owners had done to the place. And them, by chance we drove by yesterday to find a for sale sign and an open house!  We took the opportunity to go inside and show our girls where they first lived. The realtor was cool with us snooping around with no intent to buy. I stood in my old kitchen with the original 1952 oven and bright red countertops that we installed back in 2002. I remembered all the meals I prepared and dishes washed in that place. I walked around the backyard listening to the familiar sound of the wind rustling the leaves in the enormous, 50 year old oak tree. I found the birdbath my mom gave us nearly overgrown with vines in the corner of the yard. In the bedroom room Mike and I shared I could still picture the way the sunlight poured through the blinds in the morning giving the room a warm glow. It was pretty wonderful to reflect on those seven years living at 2243 Barclay Rd. And even more amazing to see where life has taken us since.

(The kids being silly in the girls' old room).