Closing Time

Today is the end of an era... my parents have sold our old house, and today is the closing. It's very bittersweet.

They've bought a beautiful old home in the Avenues in Hattiesburg, and I'm SO IN LOVE with it. It's so close to campus and downtown, and it's just great to be back in the "city" again. The new house even has a pool, which has been such a lovely way to spend some weekends this summer. I look forward to many, many more memories at the new (old) house.

But there's just something about saying goodbye to the house where I really grew up that is a little sad, even though I haven't lived there in 15 years or so.

We moved into that house right before sixth grade, and I finished up school at PCS before starting junior high at Oak Grove.

The school was right down the street. There were several kids who lived in our neighborhood, so we would all walk home from school together. My first kiss was behind the stop sign across the street. My first boyfriend lived one street over. My best friend lived right down the street. There were many a game of spotlight and truth or dare played in that neighborhood. It was perfect. You could hear the high school football games from our back deck. Three pets rest in peace there.

There are wonderful, wonderful memories associated with Leaf Lane, and I will always remember it with a smile. All that said, I'm beyond thrilled with my parents' new digs.

This house is GORGEOUS, and it's just a few blocks away from the zoo, which will be so much fun as Sibley gets older. My "first" house where we lived until we moved to Oak Grove was just a few streets over, so I guess you could say the Bices have come full circle.

Cheers to change. It's always a blessing. It keeps us on our toes and keeps things in perspective. So long, Oak Grove... Hello, Hattiesburg. :)