Skip to main content

Saying Goodbye...but Not Really

Since I made this blog private several years ago, I feel as if it's become more of a journal of my own personal thoughts than a collection of writings of the family.  I have lots of invited readers, but really only Sarah and Ethan are regular readers of it.  With that, I feel the need to record my feelings tonight.

Tomorrow, John leaves State College behind.  He'll be driving from Port Matilda to Ypsilanti with four dogs in Greenie.  He's spent a lot of time this week, trying to get the house ready....for nothing.

I never honestly thought this day would come, but it has.  We are officially leaving our house behind, and we don't have a buyer in sight.  Our beautiful house full of so many memories.  Our land, a veritable Garden of Eden in the middle of the Commonwealth.  Even our trusty goldfish friends who are now trained as hand-fed creatures.

Nobody wants our house.  It is either too expensive, or too small, or too much land, or too near the road, or "just not the right fit".  We gave it a good two years to sell, and two different realtors tried to sell it, but to no avail.

And it makes me incredibly sad and even sick to the stomach to think of it, just sitting there empty.

The mortgage payment and the yearly tax bill on it are going to strangle us financially.  And yet, we'll keep paying on it.

I always envisioned sitting around the table at the bank, meeting the people who had fallen in love with our home.  I would tell them little things about the house that would make them love it even more.  We would hand over the keys and thank Heavenly Father that it had all worked out.

I've chastised myself over the last two years, telling myself that I haven't had enough faith.  That I haven't had hope.  That I haven't kept a positive attitude.  That I haven't depended enough on the faith of others.  That if I would just do all of these things better, Heavenly Father would reward me by helping me to sell the house.

People have had faith for us.  They have had their own small spiritual feelings about the house selling, and when I have felt like my faith is failing, I've leaned on theirs.  I've thanked Heavenly Father for the things that I've learned along the way.

But for some reason that I can't fathom, it just hasn't worked out for us.  It's been suggested that we just abandon the house and leave it to the bank.  I can't do it though.  It would be like abandoning one of my children.

My patriarchal blessing says that I will be "given the strength necessary to make the adjustments needed in the days ahead".  Tonight, I just don't feel like I have that strength anymore.  I have given so much to my belief and to my faith over the past two years about this.  I have believed that if I ask, I will receive.  Both John and I believed that a miracle would happen, and it would probably happen at the very last minute.

Tomorrow is the last minute, and there is no hope.  I feel really sad, and I wonder if I have the strength to move forward.

Only time will tell.

Comments

  1. Oh Larisa, I'm so sorry you're feeling this way. Knowing you, I believe you do have the strength to move forward. All I can think of to say are annoying platitudes, so I'll skip all that. Just know we love you, we're praying for you, and we'd do anything for you.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I'm writing this, not as a complaint, but as a plea.  If anyone has any advice, I would greatly appreciate it. My children are talented.  In fact, every child that I have ever met is talented in some way.  That's the fun thing about meeting kids--discovering those hidden talents. Some of the talents my children possess are very public--you guessed it...music.  Some aren't so public--kindness and generosity. My kids are frequently judged by other children because of their musical talents.  Other kids see them as "snobs" because they play their instruments well and because they are willing to share those talents whenever asked. My kids never play with arrogance.  They recognize that they are better at music than most kids their age, but they never, ever show it.  In fact, they are very generous with compliments towards other kids and their efforts with music.  I have raised them to appreciate anyone who tries to do anything with music--it's ...

Redefining Charity

I like attending church on Sunday for many different reasons, but I dislike the meetings for one very large reason:  discussions regarding charity. In case you don't remember your Sunday School lessons, charity is defined as the pure love of Christ.  If you were to actually look up the word in a dictionary, it would say, "See John Kennedy". That's right.  My wonderful husband is the perfect embodiment of charity. His life basically moves from one charitable act to another. Take any given Saturday.  He can found building some large structure on our property because I think we need it.  He can be found, rebuilding a pond for an old Indian woman who lives alone and needs some help.  On his way to a church picnic, he will stop to help an old woman reseal her driveway, missing one of his favorite meals in the world:  a POTLUCK! Other days?  He stops to help any person on the side of the road with car troubles. He'll drive 2.5 hours to a ...

The TOOTH that Broke the Camel's Back

1.  Take an already busy doctor and install an EMR (Electronic Medical Record) in his office.  Kiss him goodnight at midnight as he begins to "preload" charts for future visits. 2.  Host a general authority of the church for our stake conference this weekend.  Receive a long "to do" list of jobs just five days before the conference. 3.  Feel stress because John is stressed.  Try to do his jobs around the house so that he doesn't have to worry about them. 4.  Have 16 puppies. 5.  Decide to build outside area for puppies.  Borrow backhoe from neighbor.  Watch John work long past the setting sun, and wake up before anyone else to dig. 6.  Use our own tractor to move the dirt.  Watch bucket malfunction, cut the fuel line and destroy the fuel pump.  Try to catch the leaking diesel fuel in a bucket. 7.  Catch cold last weekend.  Dread colds like a hemophiliac dreads a small cut.  Nurse fever, congestio...