My parents are getting ready to leave their home of over 30 years. They live near me and won’t be moving far, but it will be a huge change for them and for our whole family. Bittersweet is usually the perfect word for moments like this, but I’d say the feelings now are more complicated. This isn’t easy.

This is not the home I grew up in, but of course over 30 years I have built memories there. What we all really love about their home is the property, which is beautiful on its own, but is also close a short walk from a lake and and is adjacent to the relatively new rail trail. Their property has a stream and so many different trees. The birds and the deer and the neighborhood cats all love it there.

I’ve been taking all the photos I can to help me remember. I am sure I have hundreds of photos of their property over the years, and I am guessing my parents might prefer the ones where the landscaping is better tended, but going through those will have to wait for another day as we are busy with the move now. Between my older photos, the boxes of prints I’ve brought home, and the boxes of slides I was already working on digitizing, I have my family archival work cut out for me. In the meantime, here are some photos I have taken of their home and its surroundings as I have seen them in the past few months.

Their home:

Scenes from their property:

The nearby lake and the rail trail:

-Deirdre