Memories of our childhood home on completion day – Mummascribbles

This is a collaborative post

Today my mum has moved house.

I haven’t written about any of it on here, or even mentioned it on social media just in case it all fell through. You know how these things work and it is such a lengthy process and it only takes one person to pull out, or for something to not be approved and suddenly you are back to square one.

Mum wasn’t necessarily looking to move. A bit like me (I am VERY much like her!), she finds herself meandering through the houses for sale on Rightmove but never really with the intention of upping sticks. That was until August, when she stumbled upon a little house out in Hertfordshire and fell immediately in love with it. She went to view it, fell in love with it even more (she actually phoned me in tears because she was so emotional about it), spoke to my Sister and I about it, and we both told her to go for it. So she did. She put an offer on it which was accepted, she put her house on the market a few days later. A couple of weeks later her house sold and the last couple of months have been the formalities and processes of making that home hers.

She has been a bit stressed, worried, excited, nervous. But she has done amazing and I think it’s fair to say right here and now that I am so blooming proud of her. Honestly, if five years ago when we lost my Dad, you’d have told me that she would go on to do all of this stuff, I would never have believed you. Not that she wasn’t capable but my Dad was the organisation man. He managed the finances, the insurances. And here we are, five years down the line with my mum organising an entire house move. She has done all of the packing, the decluttering and the downsizing (she is moving from a 3 bed to a 1 bed!). She has dealt with the solicitors, the estate agents and organised the removal company – all by herself. For someone who has never been through a house move, she has dealt with it all absolutely amazing.

Of course, with this being her first house move, it means she is selling the family home. She has lived there for 42 years. My Sister was 19 when she moved out, I was 22 when I flew the nest. But even though I haven’t lived there for 13 years, it is still home. It will always be home. And it feels a bit weird that it won’t actually be home anymore. Someone else is moving in, will be redecorating, changing things, making it theirs. A couple have bought it. They are engaged, no doubt looking to start a family of their own in the future. It may be their family home. No longer ours.

But we have so many wonderful memories there. And some sad ones too.

I remember the fun I had with my Sister inside those walls.

The nights twice a week, when my Mum was on the phone to my Nan for a whole hour. And because back then, cordless phones weren’t a thing (or if they were they were really expensive), she was stuck in the hallway for an hour, leaving us free to do whatever we pleased! It usually involved us getting all of the saucepans out of the kitchen and playing ‘band’! Or pretending the back of the sofa was a horse!

I remember the birthday parties that we had for my Sister in the garden – her birthday being in the last week of September and still managing to have good weather – which is still the case now. It is never not a nice weekend (and Zach’s falls on it now too which is handy!). Mine is October and my parties were always inside!

I remember when my Sister moved out and I was so fond of my own newly decorated tiny bedroom, that I quite simply did not want to upgrade to the big room. I mean I did eventually, but at the time I was happy with my lot!

I remember the wallpaper I had as a child. Of nursery rhyme characters all over the wall. I remember that when I was ill with a raging temperature, those characters came to life and sounded like that of a school playground. Utterly terrifying!

I remember the family Christmasses that we had there. With my Nan and Grandad over. Grandad telling naughty jokes at the table, Dad in the kitchen carving the turkey or washing up before we were allowed our afternoon presents!

I remember my Mum, Sister and I dancing round the front room together. I especially remember her playing The Flight of the Bumblebee music and running up and down the front room like a nutter chasing us!

I remember my Dad coming home at night, me watching his car pull down the drive and singing ‘Daddy’s Home’ by Cliff Richard.

I remember his fantastic music collection that he had such pleasure in playing.

I remember our dog who lived with us there for 13 years. Our lovely big Rough Collie Cassie. How she would greet us at the door when we got home from school, lay under our legs when we were relaxing, and moult absolutely everywhere!

I remember sitting on the sofa watching Blue Peter and Top of the Pops.

I remember the old brown sofas, the threadbare carpets, the cupboard with the broken door, the old scratched dining table and the marked up patio doors that mostly I marked! To my Mum, all of that mattered and she was never happy with it, but to us, we didn’t care. We were kids, we were happy. It was just home. She has since transformed the inside of the house to one of beauty – it has never looked better.

I remember getting so homesick when I was at University – desperate to be back home with my special family, in the home that was so familiar to me.

And then of course it was the home that brought the saddest of times – when my Dad was terminally ill with a brain tumour. I remember sitting on the sofa with him, with my big pregnant belly that he couldn’t bare to talk about.

I remember how he could no longer get upstairs and the front room was turned into his bedroom/bathroom. Where the carers came round to look after him. Him quickly deteriorating right in front of our eyes.

I remember arriving there a few hours after Mum had gotten the phone call from the hospice to say he had passed away. It was the weirdest of moments, knowing that Dad would never be stepping back inside that house. His house.

And I think that is the part that I am finding the most emotional to deal with. Not the worry of forgetting all of those wonderful memories that are stored in my head. They will always be there (and here which is why it was so important for me to write this post!). But the thought that the house was Dad’s. It was always his house, he died before he could ever move from there and it is almost like the final piece of him is no longer going to be a part of the family.

And since he died, there have been so many other happy memories that have been made there – mostly with my Mum having looked after Zach for three years, several times a week. I think it is safe to say that Zach was a bit of a saviour to my Mum. The focus she needed after losing Dad. And the two of them had such fun times there whilst I was busy working. He never ever didn’t want to go to Nannie’s house. And sometimes, he didn’t want to leave.

He has had sleepovers there. They built tents, played football, gardened together, ate together. He still remembers the house but I am not sure that he will always remember it, for he is so young.

And of course, Oscar will have no memory of it at all. Nannie’s new house will be his familiar one.

And despite all of these emotions and memories, I am so excited for her and for us to make new ones.

Her new house is just beautiful. It is in a wonderful area, a much safer area than where she is now. She already has a very good friend of hers not far away and I just know she is going to be far more sociable there than she is in her current location.

Then there is the garden – my goodness the garden is amazing. And I can just see my two boys having the most epic games of hide and seek because there are so many places to hide! And even though it is only a one bedroom place, she is awaiting delivery of a sofa bed so it will be totally possible to stay there – and I can see my gorgeous pair having weekends at Nannie’s house in the future.

So today, my Mum moved house. After 42 years, a new start. Somewhere I know she will be happy. I am so looking forward to making new memories there with her and my boys.