Recapturing the Past

My children once memorably told me that houses are just buildings and that it is the people who live in them that are important.  At the time I was struggling with what I had seen as a difficult decision, but once that was on the table, the choice was clear.  They were right, no question about it.  But I still have a deep seated love of this particular building, a three story Victorian built in 1871 on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island.
I lived here when I was in college and for the beginning of medical school with twenty other people.  There is so much about what happened in this house that I have carried forward into the rest of my life.  The first is that I learned to laugh at some of the foibles in myself.  I really have a propensity to stick my foot in where it doesn't necessarily belong, but I got a lot better at not doing that in this house.  I learned that you should always strive to do more than what you see as your share.  We tend to be generous with ourselves and hard on others, and so doing more that what you think you need to makes you a better housemate.
I found life long love in this house.  My spouse and I have over three decades together that started right here.  I have the lyrics in my head:
I have often walked
Down the street before,
But the pavement always
Stayed beneath my feet before.
All at once am I
Several stories high,
Knowing I'm on the street where you live.
I learned to cook in this house, a skill that has served me well and that I continue to learn and perfect.  I quilted my first quilt in this house--I had made a tied one before, but I made one that I machine quilted with a 1939 White that I got at a thrift shop in Providence in this house.  I continue to quilt, sometimes more, sometimes less, but the crafting part of me bloomed while I lived in this house.
 I love the part of me that grew up in this house, and so it holds a very special place in my heart.