Five Stick Friday

Tonight is the 25th anniversary of our first New Years Eve in this house. We moved here in August of 1999 from a larger home in Brookstone and were “just going to be here a couple of years”. And 25 years later we’re still here in our house that became our home.

We bought these “year 2000” toasting glasses and stayed home that year… laughing nervously about what might happen at midnight with all the Y2K hysteria that year.

It’s been a wonderful 25 years that has seen all kinds of stuff. 4 precious dogs (Dede, Bailey, Copper, and Hilo), 2 hamsters (Candy and Bear), 1 cockatiel (Zeus), and a few Beta fish.

The basement has seen the rehearsal prep for 6 runs to GMEA Allstate (Erin on French Horn) and 7 years of combined Drum Corps (Davis with Atlanta CV and the Cavaliers).

There has been some form of an art studio in the house since 2011, with two painters launching gallery capable art careers.

There have been exhilarating Georgia Tech football wins in our den, and excruciating losses in the same.

There’s been one scoliosis surgery recovery and rehab (Davis) from having 9 vertebrae fused and titanium rods implanted to stabilize his spine.

We’ve grown vegetables in the side yard, strawberries in the back yard, and had peach trees out front.

A lot of piano hours have been logged by myself, Erin, and lately Davis. Erin bought a Cello that’s still here, and has made major progress on acoustic and electric guitars.

There have been hundreds of fires in the fireplace, and murder mysteries solved with gusto on the kitchen table.

25 years tonight. Doesn’t seem possible. And while I’ve listed the good times, we’ve had our fair share of challenging ones here as well. But somehow those fade away and pale in comparison.

When Bonnie Mullinax helped us find this house 25 years ago, one of the last things she said to us was… “any house can be your house… you and your family will make it a home”. She was a thousand percent right.

So… moving on to see what year 26 brings us in this “house we were gonna live in for a couple of years”.

Happy New Year, everyone!