Sunrise, Sunset

So, here's a little known "Rae fact" - back in the days or yore (is that really a thing?  It sounds lovely) I used to be quite the thespian (quiet your teenaged boy.  That's ACTOR, people).  Starting at the young age of 12, I participated in the local theatre guild and my school musicals/drama club until I graduated form high school.  My range of talents include tap dancing orphan (Annie), a singing, jigging rabbit (Peter Pan), pure royalty (Princess and the Pea...oh, the irony!), and a maven of Jewish culture and rebellion (Fiddler on the Roof).

Eventually, the town and the school realized I can't really sing, I aged out of being adorable (yikes), so that season has passed for me.  But my typecast of Hodel in "Fiddler on the Roof" still remains one of my favorites, if only for the spirited dancing and spirited music selection.

As I went for my daily run yesterday morning, I forewent the usually poppy crap I listen to and tuned into my surroundings.  There's a good reason for this.  Amidst all of my random musings on 2020 and being overwhelmed, one of the main reasons is this:

You got it.  As a final holdover of 2019 and my crazy, jump off a cliff year, we put our home up for sale.  Long story short, Greg and I found a wonderful house in Webster, a town about 10 miles away - its close to the lake, the home of my dreams, and in the town I grew up in - which has a ton of activities for the kids and a great school system.  We sold our home back in December and close on the new house today - tomorrow will be a whirlwind of moving, and we will say goodbye to our first home.

It's been a crazy process, but even with the roller coaster of ups and downs, I know we have made the right decision.  It hasn't always been easy (as I type this at 4am, the morning of closing, with a sick kid throwing up next to me, a cracked tooth, and a house that is 90% packed) but like most things worth doing, the tough parts keep my eyes focused on the end goal.

I can't wait to share our new house with you....but today, for me, is all about the journey we've had on Sunrise Drive.  This was our first home ten years ago, as a newlywed couple.  We had no idea what we were doing.  We pulled into the driveway with a little U Haul full of all of our apartment college style possessions, and Greg carried me over the threshold to begin our new life together.

Over the last decade, the house purchase became a home.  I trained for, and completed my first Ironman while running and riding these roads (as a matter of fact, I got so lost on my first training run I ran 10 miles instead of 5....whoops!).  We hosted several holidays a year for family and friends. On a walk through the neighborhood in 2012, I told Greg we were going to have our first child.  We brought both kids home from the hospital to this home - and through many sleepless nights, baby snuggles, bumps and bruises, laughs, and priceless moments - watched both kids grow from infancy, baby stages, toddlerhood and off to their first days of school.

The playground in the backyard and the "sledding hill" have seen so much love.  The driveway tells the tale of hopscotch games, road races, and first bike adventures. There have been so many memorable nights of hosting parties (and a few too many drinks suring some where the memories have a few holes!)  The creation of a new friends group that are now like family.  School events, community events, breakfasts with Santa, dance classes, birthday parties and swim lessons.  This past ten years have been so full of life and love, and this home has seen it all- it saw the beginning of a marriage and has now resulted in a full family, complete with two crazy cats running around - chaos, unity, laughter, heartache, achievements, and everything in between.

On my 6 mile loop yesterday, I ran my favorite neighborhoods, and thought about all of the wonderful memories we have seen on Sunrise Dr. and in Gananda. (Otherwise known as the "fighting duck" run!)

  I chuckled as I tackled the hills of Gananda and remembered how, years ago, I could not make it up several of the long ones without walking - and as I glanced at my watch, I was easily maintaining an 8 minute mile.  Oh how far everything has come in ten years.  I teared up when I passed my best friends home, and smiled as I passed our sitter's home, who has become family to us.  I marveled at the "mountain views" we have at the top of the hill and relished the memories the local farm held of Rob and Biz's first ice cream and corn maze.  Rounding out the final mile, I passed the school where both my kids were in attendance....and welled up with emotion at the span of everything the last ten years has brought.  I finished the run on Sunset Drive, which, as our neighboring street, was a great cool down walk and also the perfect representation of our time at Gananda, which had come full cirlcle.  As I walked the street toward my home, I thought about Tevye's song long ago from "Fiddler on the Roof" that was sympatico with my mix of emotions.

Sunrise, Sunset

Swiftly fly the years

One season following another

Laden with happiness and tears

It's been an amazing mix of seasons in Gananda....laden with so much that we have experienced through the years.  I'm going to miss the house that was our first home, the growing and learning that we have done, and all of the beautiful memories.  Walking up my driveway, I noticed the footprints of both my kids in the snow that they had left when they boarded the bus that morning, of my husband as he got in the car to go to work, and mine as I headed out to run.  And it was such a beautiful mish mosh of "The Glaser Fam" that I know will follow to our new home and all of the adventures that await us there. 

I paused and had a "Mom moment", and remembered the wise words of my 6 year old, every time I ask him to stop growing. His response...."But Mom, that's what people do!  They grow!".  Yes they do, buddy.  They grow and move on to the next adventure, the next beautiful moment that will become an amazing memory, like all of the ones that we have had on Sunrise. And they smile at those memories for the happiness they brought, live in the moment, and make each day a beautiful experience in this dance of life.

Wise kid.  I came in from the cold, brewed a cup of coffee, and sat at the kitchen table for a moment, enjoying one of my last sunrises on Sunrise Dr.  And then got up and moving.  On to the next adventure we go!