Last May, I came home from a trip to the beach and received some life-changing news from my parents: “we’re moving,” they said to my sister and I over dinner.
This didn’t come as much of a shock. My parents had been packing up our house and looking at condos for the past year. Every time I came home from college for a break, my mom begged me to clean out my cluttered childhood room “just in case.” Downsizing and moving out of my hometown after I (the youngest child) graduated high school was always the plan, but it was just a matter of finding the perfect place to go. During the pandemic this past spring, my parents were constantly going to open houses in the area, sometimes taking my sister and I along, asking us “do you picture us living here?” and the answer was usually, well, no.
I spent my entire life living in our house in Sharon, Massachusetts. My family moved in over 22 years ago before I was even born, back when my parents only had my two older sisters who were just starting elementary school. My sisters and I grew up in that house. For us, our parents moving meant leaving behind more than just the town where we went to school. We left behind our childhood bedrooms, our big backyard, and all the memories associated with the house.
Luckily for my parents, they had no issue getting the house on the market and it sold within weeks of announcing their move. I remember looking at the Zillow pictures with my sisters and laughing at how clean and empty the house looked – to a point where it was unrecognizable, especially with how the photographer managed to make our tiny bedrooms seem so spacious. This past summer, we watched our parents go through all our belongings, throwing out or giving away junk, and packing our most valued possessions into big cardboard boxes. From finding letters friends wrote to me at summer camp 10 years ago, to my massive collection of Silly Bandz, cleaning my room was surely an experience in itself. As the youngest sibling still in college and without a permanent residence of my own, I was fortunate to get my own designated bedroom in the new condo while my other 2 siblings would have to fight over the guest room when they visit, so that meant I didn’t have to get rid of absolutely everything. Even though I picked out a new bedspread for the new room, most of the furniture and decorations are still the same as I had in Sharon.
Since my parents finished the move over the end of the summer while I was getting settled in Amherst, I didn’t see the new condo until a few weeks ago when I went “home” for Columbus day weekend. It was definitely weird seeing some familiar pieces of furniture, like our dining room table and my dad’s favorite reclining chair, in a completely unfamiliar space. But even after a few short days of being there, and especially seeing how happy and relaxed my parents were (even my dog seemingly enjoying her new space), the new condo started to feel like home. Moving during a pandemic was undoubtedly difficult for my parents, but seeing them settled in a new chapter of their lives during these stressful times is incredibly rewarding. We’re all looking forward to having our first Thanksgiving in the condo in a few weeks!