Come Monday and Ma's house will be handed over to its'new owner.
This is a bittersweet event for me.
It is something that I have wanted to happen for the last ten months.
The house is the major part of Ma's estate and as such it has been a huge responsibility to ensure it is looked after and kept safe.
There have been four occasions when neighbours have identified issues that needed our urgent attention.
It meant that whatever we were doing had to be suspended and we had to get over there.
Three of these events were trespass issues...when young men climbed over the backyard wall(they broke down a fence to do this)...the got into the garage...which houses nothing more than unused garden furniture.
They got into a storage area on the second trespass....scattering paint tins all over the yard.
After this we reinforced the fence, bolstered the garage and storage space door.
On the third occasion the just had a dump in the toilet...and left the evidence.
The fourth occasion was the one with the light on in the house and I have blogged about that one...so you will know that it was equally fraught for me.
So,all in all, it has been a bit of a trial for me.
We have visited roughly every other day....and each visit has got harder to bear....and I have had to force myself to go up there.
It seemed that I had all the trials of going up there, but without the joy of having my dear old Ma there.
Even at her grumpiest, moaniest, she was a treasure....and now the treasure is gone,it was hard for me.
Hearing from the solicitor that the contracts had been exchanged, that the sale was legally binding....and the completion date is the 10th was all that I wanted....so why then did my eyes sweat?
Maybe it was relief that at long last things were coming to a close.
Whatever it was, it caught me totally off guard.
I suppose it because the house is the last concrete tangible link to her.
Tomorrow, I will visit for the last time.
I will remove some of the last vestiges of her existence and I will close the door and hand over the keys.
I will also continue the time honoured tradition of giving the new owners a candle(to light their future)a bottle of wine(to wish them the sweet things in life) some bread(so that that they are never without sustenance) and salt(to ensure their prosperity).
Then all that I have to do is agree the statement of accounts for the estate and the inheritance will be divided up.
Then that will be the end of this experience that I shied away from, never wanted to have, but have dealt with.
Amen.
This is a bittersweet event for me.
It is something that I have wanted to happen for the last ten months.
The house is the major part of Ma's estate and as such it has been a huge responsibility to ensure it is looked after and kept safe.
There have been four occasions when neighbours have identified issues that needed our urgent attention.
It meant that whatever we were doing had to be suspended and we had to get over there.
Three of these events were trespass issues...when young men climbed over the backyard wall(they broke down a fence to do this)...the got into the garage...which houses nothing more than unused garden furniture.
They got into a storage area on the second trespass....scattering paint tins all over the yard.
After this we reinforced the fence, bolstered the garage and storage space door.
On the third occasion the just had a dump in the toilet...and left the evidence.
The fourth occasion was the one with the light on in the house and I have blogged about that one...so you will know that it was equally fraught for me.
So,all in all, it has been a bit of a trial for me.
We have visited roughly every other day....and each visit has got harder to bear....and I have had to force myself to go up there.
It seemed that I had all the trials of going up there, but without the joy of having my dear old Ma there.
Even at her grumpiest, moaniest, she was a treasure....and now the treasure is gone,it was hard for me.
Hearing from the solicitor that the contracts had been exchanged, that the sale was legally binding....and the completion date is the 10th was all that I wanted....so why then did my eyes sweat?
Maybe it was relief that at long last things were coming to a close.
Whatever it was, it caught me totally off guard.
I suppose it because the house is the last concrete tangible link to her.
Tomorrow, I will visit for the last time.
I will remove some of the last vestiges of her existence and I will close the door and hand over the keys.
I will also continue the time honoured tradition of giving the new owners a candle(to light their future)a bottle of wine(to wish them the sweet things in life) some bread(so that that they are never without sustenance) and salt(to ensure their prosperity).
Then all that I have to do is agree the statement of accounts for the estate and the inheritance will be divided up.
Then that will be the end of this experience that I shied away from, never wanted to have, but have dealt with.
Amen.
