by GSCA Member, Cecily Sharp-Whitehill
The deed is done. Our beautiful home in Osprey had become, over the past few years, a house that someone else could embrace as home. We offered it for sale (for the third time in four years) only this past December. An offer was placed on our table in January. The buyers had been renting elsewhere for many years. That rented house sold in December and they did not want to rent again, so they looked, looked some more, and found 898 MacEwen. They returned to 898 repeatedly to look some more. They made an offer. We countered, of course. And so it went until, with the encouragement of our Realtor as well as the buyers’, we met and agreed. The buyers had to vacate their rental by 1st March, though! This meant that Jürgen and I needed to vacate the house by 15th February! And not just ourselves, but all our worldly goods. This we have done.
It is a blessing that we have been living up here in our condo for many months now. That meant that Realtors could show the huge house to their hearts’ content, as we were no longer there — and neither were our hearts.
The past two weeks leading up to the closing have been a time of intense sorting: donations to charities, storage or put in the in situ estate sale. A stupendous team of good people made the goal of moving a truly stressless reality. Kindness, respect, compassion, patience and sensitivity have been evidenced by everyone who’s been part of this process. I am down-on-my-knees grateful to everyone who prayerfully supported us as well as to those who functionally and cheerfully contributed to our successful departure.
While the estate sale was taking place, I commented to Jürgen that the sale took place because we CHOSE to exit the house — and NOT because anyone died. We now have a tremendously exciting opening to begin anew, to live simply, to work with our clients, to read, write, and to feel and appreciate our love of others and theirs for us. Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still right (he’s over 100 now and continues to write poetry and create art works): Today IS the first day of the rest of [our] life!
We have seen and felt the “habit” of having things. And we have overthrown the [sometimes] tyrannical nature of these “things”; we have NOT “down-sized.” We have chosen to liberate ourselves from material possessions and many of the “surly bonds of earth” in favor of the panoply of less visible sources of joy. You might say and sing with us that we have really “right-sized” our possessions and “up-sized” our lives!
Rejoice with us!
