Letting him in...

He keeps an eye on us, and worries when things are not the way they are supposed to be. In Mr. Wilson's world everything is about walks, naps, cookies and playing with the various toys he has named; The Green Caterpillar, The Purple Sock Monkey with the Short Leg, The Red Devil, Sir Rat,and Bruce's Sister to name a few. He loves it here, and this is where he calls home.

I never felt as if my house was my home until Mr. Wilson arrived, some seven years after we moved in. This is the downsized version of our dream home, the one we had to sell because it was too big, and too difficult to maintain. Little things you don't think of when you sell your place and move on made it hard to accept the new house. The biggest was our loss of sense of place, and family history. We correlate the passing of years with our surroundings, and trying to latch on emotionally to four walls without the memory of the kids growing up, the pets we loved while we lived there, the parties, Christmastime or simply life unfolding around us was more difficult than we ever thought it would be.

An empty nest is one thing, an empty nest in unfamiliar territory quite another. Home may be where the heart is, but leaving your heart in the home you know best makes it difficult to move on, and embrace new surroundings. We do our best, and a lot of our "stuff" came with us, but most of our things just looked out of place, and a lot of it ended up in the basement, eventually at various consignment stores and ultimately in somebody else's home.

When we adopted a dog we had no idea that in doing so we would begin letting go of the old life and begin moving on. That little critter named Mr. Wilson has turned our house into a home, and when our kids stop by, instead of feeling as if they are visitors at Mom and Michael's house, they are comfortable, and the best ambassador in the world welcomes them, and brings us all closer.

So come on in everybody, and make yourselves at home!

.