When we moved to Winnipeg from Ontario in 2008, the house we purchased had a large crawl space. Hardy looked at it and said "this would make a great play area for the grandchildren." And that's what it became until the youngest were in their teens, and even then they enjoyed going down there and having fun together. This wonderful place has now been dismantled and all the toys and mementos (except a few cherished ones that must stay in the family) have found a new home.
It was a slow process and began like this
My nephew's wife is expecting their first child and there was going to be a shower. Instead of giving a card, a book donation was an option (used books were fine). I looked through all the books in the crawl space and found one about a dog called Farley (they are a dog loving family). My four sisters and I bought a baby carrying chair as a shower gift and wrapped it in an old quilt our mother had made. The Farley book went along as the card.
That book was the first item to disappear from our crawl space and got me started on sorting, tossing and keeping. It was a big job as there was lots of stuff down there. I filled bins and bins and dragged them upstairs into the garage. Then I called a friend who runs a day care for her grandchildren. She had expressed interest and said her husband would come with his truck and pick it all up. And he did, cheerfully loading it all up in his truck. I gave him some cookies! A small thank you for a big job done with a happy heart!
There were a few things I just couldn't part with.
All the art work we did stayed up on the wall for now.
The table and chairs my great-uncle made for us when we were small will stay in the family.
And of course, some favorite books. A book lover like me finds it difficult to give them up!
Several weeks after that big job was done, our oldest daughter and her husband rented a wet vac and we cleaned all the carpets in the basement and the main floor. Then my daughter and I decided to go out for supper. She picked a place not far from where I live and off we went. When we arrived, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the little restaurant where Hardy and I had our last meal out together! We had such a good time and it was a memory that stayed with me, even though I had forgotten which restaurant it was. We felt his presence there with us!
My sister, who makes beautiful quilts made the wall hanging above. She wrote:
"This quilted dragonfly will remind me to embrace change with grace and gratitude and will remind me of the Holy Spirit in my life".
