We have been on this property 38 years. Our boys were 6 and 8 when we bought this land, so most of their growing up memories are here. Our pets are buried on this land, several under blooming perennials so we will always know where they lie and can see them from a distance. Between landscaping the rain flow with a shovel and the boys' little red wagon (we couldn't even afford a wheelbarrow in the early days!), growing an 80 x 80 garden every year, then canning and preserving and pickling all summer, cutting wood for the woodstove which kept our electric bill where we could afford it in the winter, shooting poisonous snakes, marauding bobcats in the chicken pen, and rabid animals, and hauling water for days after every hurricane until the power came back on, we have watered this property with our literal blood, sweat, and tears. Little by little we fixed it up exactly like we wanted it. No other manufactured home of this age has a kitchen the size of mine with the umpteen feet of counter space stretched over 17 cabinets and 13 drawers. And no other has a porcelain-tiled screened porch connected to an oversized carport. No other has a shower you could have a party in! (We didn't.)
Then there is the property itself. Driving down the lane canopied with live oaks makes guests slow down just so they can look around. In the spring, the entrance to the "yard" portion of our five acres is guarded by azaleas covered with blooms, and the same blooms surround the house. But let's back up.
We start the year with the yellow trumpets of Carolina jessamine in January, followed by azaleas of all shades in late January and throughout February. The amaryllises begin to open in March. About that time the climbing roses start in and last a good month before taking a break through the heat. In April the jasmine nearly knock you over with their fragrance, and the wildflowers show their first color with fire engine red and pink and white phlox. In May we can count up to 70 day lilies every morning. The wildflowers will last through June with loads of bright yellow black-eyed Susans finishing up the color parade of red, pink, orange, purple, and yellow that began back in late April. Then the heat kicks in and things slow down, a few blue plumbago brightening the heat waves rising from the ground and maybe a rose or two and the crepe myrtles. By October we are back in full swing—mums overflowing their bed, followed by camellias in late November and December, and on we go to the jessamine again in January as the cycle begins anew. But now…
Now we will start all over again, with something smaller and nowhere near like we want it, and with very few years left to make it that way. And it will be in a subdivision! In the city! I am certain that when we turn our heads for one last look as we drive down this beautiful lane on our way to a new place and a new life, our eyes will tear up and our throats will tighten. Most of our lives were lived on this ground and in this far from luxurious home, but it was ours and we loved it.
And then we will both remember—there is a far better home awaiting us. One with far more glory than even the billows of colorful blooms, and far more warmth and love than even the memories of little boys climbing trees and chasing balls of all sorts, rolling around on the grass with their beloved yellow lab Bart, gathering eggs, silking the corn before the assembly line of putting it up in the freezer, cheeks full of fresh blueberries along with blue-stained lips and fingers. Yes, something far better, far more glorious, so far above what we think is special here that we cannot even imagine the truth of it despite God's attempts to describe it in our language.
And we will never, ever have to drive away, leaving it all behind for someone else who won't realize how precious it all is. That last home will be our forever home, and that is the only one that really counts.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1Pet 1:3-9).
Dene Ward