PackUpandGo

Sign in the snow pile

Well if it wasn’t official by just saying it, our house is now for sale. Crazy mixed emotions. Our realtor came on Thursday while I was at school. I had prepared myself all day to see the sign in the yard. I thought I would be strong, but of course I wasn’t. It is just really weird. I take great pride in my home and to see that I am just leaving it behind is….strange, but I tend to humanize things so I feel like my house is mad at me. Stop laughing! I know how silly that sounds. The world knows now. And by world I mean the half a dozen people that go by our house a day. Our families, close friends, colleagues, boss and everyone on facebook knows. I have been contemplating when to tell my class. Andrew thought I should wait until the end of the year. I love him, but I thought that was a dumb idea. I wasn’t intentionally praying for a window, but was given one anyway.

Now as a teacher, I do not have favorites, but this particular former student brings a smile to my face every time I see him. He wears his emotions on his sleeve and I have loved watching him grow since moving on to third grade. He comes by every morning to say hello and we have a short conversation about how we are both doing. Every time he sees me in the hallway he shouts “Hello, Mrs. Holland!!” and sometimes gets in trouble because he is supposed to be quiet in the hallway, but there is something to be said for a student not being able to contain his excitement to see me. He is one in a million. J Anywho, he comes up to me yesterday with tears in his eyes. This was our conversation:

“Mrs. Holland, I heard a horrible rumor”.

“What was that sweetie?”

“Mrs. Holland, I heard you were moving”.

“We are sweetie”.

(He looks at me and puts his hands like he is saying “What??”)

After an awkward pause and me trying to come up with what to say to him:

“Why?”

“Mr. Holland really wants to work in music like your dad and Nashville is a great place for that”.

“Well, I just don’t like that Mrs. Holland”.

“I know, sweetie…”

He walked away and it was all I could do not to crumble. I knew that was going to be my window to tell my class. I waited until after their morning reading test. After a few moments of trying to get them to settle down, I told them that if they go by my house this weekend, they will see a for sale sign in the yard and that Andrew and I are moving to Nashville, Tennessee after the school year. There were some gasps and shocked faces. To keep from crying, I told them that they are going to be my last class at North Liberty and we would have a huge party at the end of the year. The emotions turned from sadness to excitement at the idea of having a party. I let them ask questions and the majority asked what kind of pizza we were going to have at our party. Many suggested Pizza Hut while a few thought Memories Pizza in Walkerton. Leave it to second graders to be oblivious. I think it was good that I told them. Now they will be able to help me through it. It is still completely unreal to me, but the sign in the yard validates it. The adventure continues…