Home Again

After a day and a half on the road, we (my dad, Abigail, Samson and I) made it home safe and sound on Thursday evening. I expected to come home an empty house. However, as we pulled up there were a couple of cars in the drive and the lights were on. We walked into the house to smell of dinner in the oven. My dear friends Dennis and Lee awaited us with hugs.

While I was gone, I left them a key, so they could water the plants. Before I left for Iowa, they asked me if they could help me out by hanging the pocket doors for me while I was out of town. After nine months without bathroom or bedroom doors, of course I agreed.

However, when I walked in the house on Thurs evening, I was amazed. Not only had they hung the doors but they also had gone all out. They hung the crown molding, baseboard, put a railing on the stairs, and finished tons of trim and odds and ends that Jason and I hadn’t gotten around to yet. In essence, they finished the entire house except for touch up paint and the fireplace room. I could not believe how much they accomplished in a week.

Not only did they do all the work, they did it the way Jason would have wanted it completed. For those of you who know Jason, you know that he is particular to say the least. He wanted to make everything as perfect as possible. I can’t tell you how many hours we spent perfecting details that no one else is ever going to notice.

After taking a tour of their work, I profusely thanked Dennis and Lee. After everyone left and I was alone, the tears came. First, they were tears of thankfulness and gratefulness. It was so incredibly kind of my friends (and my family, who knew what was going on) to take care of so many things, so that I didn’t have to even think about them. Later, tears of pain and disappointment came. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to finish these details together. Jason and I had such plans and dreams for this house. We worked so hard for three years, and now he will not be next to me when the last detail is completed and the house is finished.

While it was wonderful to walk into a mostly completed house, I would rather have walked into a messy house without bathroom doors to find Jason waiting for me.