Chapman Household 2.0

Have you heard the big news? Grandpa David is selling the old Chapman homestead in Goleta, CA and moving here to be close to the rest of us now settled in Colorado (see, I was right). Awesome news. But some items to take care of; first, how to prepare to sell a house that we have resided in (in various capacities) for nearly 40 years? Well, we thank Grandpa David for working many hours over many years to slowly compile memories digitally, sell old stuff, throw away older stuff and get to a place that is almost manageable. Next, we take a trip (the original Chapmans plus a baby Dias) and slash and burn the rest of the memories and personal touches that made that house our home and housed all our memories for all those years.

We spent four(ish) days throwing away, tearing-up, and taking dibs on everything left in that house. It was a ton of work but it was our turn to carry the burden dad had been carrying for so long. We made the hard choices and set the foundation for the remaining work ahead of the listing scheduled for May. At the time, the decisions to throw away so much seemed easier than they do in retrospect…we were sort of in that mode. But it makes me sad now thinking of all the projects, papers, and pictures we tossed. There really isn’t a choice what with our own kids creating an insurmountable pile of their own. Dad did a great job scanning samples of our childhood to keep the memories in simple 1’s and 0’s instead of space taking paper. But it is done. The house is show worthy and Uncle Mark is readying the trailer to go retrieve grandpa and what is left to take with him.

Looking forward to having him here to make new memories with us.

Out with the old