Remodeling our Lives
I mentioned recently our small bathroom improvement project. It’s funny how these things spread like a virus. It starts with, “I hate that wallpaper. I haven’t liked it for six years.” Then moves on to paint colors, doors, and hardware. Then it spills out into adjacent rooms. We need to repaint these rooms so the colors will coordinate with the bathroom, which means we need to update kitchen cabinets and while we’re at it we’ll knock out a wall or two (seriously, these are our thoughts) and extend the kitchen. If we do that we may not be able to match the tile that’s in the kitchen so we might have to retile all the floors. Then we can upgrade the worn carpets as well.
It is all so overwhelming. Yet at the same time it brings my wife, Jennie, and me some excitement and joy at the possibilities. I’ve been thinking about why we seem to be so excited about these prospects lately. We’ve talked about these projects off and on for the last six years. Why are we now ready (and moving ahead) to complete them?
Part of it has to do with the fact that everything is more outdated now than it was six years ago. Our fixtures do need to be changed. Our carpets are worn. More than that, however, I think that we are at an important point of change in our lives. It’s a time of looking forward to the future, a time to begin anew and fresh. Both our children have graduated from high school now. Aaron is looking to get an apartment of his own soon. Matt will be moving out to a college dorm next month.
For the first time in 20 years we will be home alone. Some people dread that prospect. I’m looking forward to it, and I think Jennie is too. I want it to be a time when we can rediscover each other, embark on projects together, and take road trips to places we enjoy. No one can really ever start over when there is 30 years of marriage history. We will always have that and the experiences of raising our children. In fact, I don’t want to start over. But in every marriage as with well-worn homes, there is a time to remodel, rearrange, repaint, tend to those things that have gotten broken. I’m looking forward to my remodelling projects.
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