Thursday 21 February 2013

Moving on

This spring it will be 2 years since I started running.  So as a runner, I have always lived in this house. It didn't take long for me to build my own mental database of running routes.  Starting from our house I can give you several options for the common distances I run, theres a few 3 milers, a couple of 5 milers, several 6-8 milers, and some good 10-14 milers for good measure.  I can tell you where to go to find a good hill workout, which route is easy and flat(ish), and how far it is to the high school track for interval runs.  I can tell you how far it is to the Tim Horton's at the corner (0.35 miles), how far it is to my brother and sister in law's house (3 miles), and how many times I have to run up and down my street if I have inadvertently made my loop to short and need to add an extra 0.2 miles before I go inside (all the way to the end, then all the way back, then about halfway from the end home).  I know I have to ease the door shut really slow on my way out or it bangs right as it closes and wakes up my sleeping boys, and I know that the front step is just the right height for me to do my physio stretches for my cranky hip/IT band.

We moved here when I was 26 weeks pregnant with Lucas, just over a year after we got married.  So as a mom, I have always lived in this house.  When we brought our brand new babies home from the hospital this was home.

Lucas
I will be forever grateful to 'Mum' (Auntie Lesley) for helping the kids create this sign for when Cooper came home.  Such a sweet memory of welcoming our new boy into our home and family.
When they were tiny I could get up in the pitch black of night, find my way to them in complete darkness, how many steps to the crib, and how many steps to the chair to sit and snuggle my babies.  When Lucas needed to be walked and rocked and shooshed to sleep I knew which 3 spots of his bedroom floor would creak and wake him.  Now I know the sound of Lucas' feet hitting the floor in the morning, even before he starts running.  I know the sound of Cooper jumping in his crib when he has woken up and is ready to be rescued.  I know just the right spot to turn the faucet to for the perfect little boy bath temperature.  I know the best seat to snuggle with Lucas in while we watch a movie together. I know the sound of Leigh's car pulling in the driveway when he gets home, and the boys know the precise moment that they need to start running down the hall to greet him.

Over the course of the next few weeks we will build a new mental database of running routes.  When we head out on our 13 miler from our new house on Saturday morning I won't be sure exactly where I should go to cover my miles, but I know my legs will fall into the same rhythm they always do.  I won't be sure of how far it is to the corner, or where the hilliest 6 mile route is, but the comfortable familiarity of the pavement under my feet will make me feel right at home.

And so it is with our family.  We are moving on from the place that has always been our home.  The feet hitting the floor in the morning before they come bounding to our bed will sound different at first.  We will stumble as we try to navigate in the dark, and it might take a minute to get the bath temperature just right.  But we will be together, and we will fall into the same rhythm we always do.  The comfortable familiarity of our family, and of the love that binds us together.

-Lex

5 comments:

  1. We are so excited for your move, but this still made me cry. Love it. (1.91 K from your new house to ours). :)

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  2. Lexie, maybe you should have been a writer instead of a nurse :0) mom

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  3. Thanks! Yeah he's quite a but skinnier now isn't he?!

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