Whether I leave my old homestead or I hang onto it, there are many memories connected to this house and the neighborhood. I was about to start the 7th grade in 1961 when my paternal grandmother passed away and the family moved into the summer home my grandfather built for he and my grandmother. Built originally as a one bedroom home, my dad and his dad went to work to add a 2nd bedroom for my brother and me.
It was a bittersweet time for me. I’d lost my grandma, and I was torn away from my friends in the Harbison Canyon-Alpine area. As kids usually do, I eventually made new friends. Getting over my losses, I settled into the life my new home required. I made new friends, finished high school, endured the divorce of my parents, and struck out on my own into the working world. On my own, I sometimes lived nearby and sometimes as far away as Oregon and Montana, but there was always the tether connecting me to the Poway house.
The town of Poway has changed over the years, but much of what was charming about the little valley was plowed under by the blades of heavy machinery so that developers could earn a few bucks. Yet there still lingers patches of the paradise that once was. One of those patches is the two acres I call home.
When my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, she asked me to move back into the house to help her through her ordeal, so I sold off the condo I was living in at the time. She did not win her battle with the cancer, and stewardship of the homestead fell to me. I tried my best to take care of the old home. I upgraded and remodeled it. Some of the improvements were rather expensive. These included a full kitchen remodel, new floors throughout most of the house, a new roof with special insulation, many new energy efficient windows, and a solar voltaic system on the roof.
The house is too big for me alone and I find I keep most of my activities to one small section. There’s a lot to like about the old house, but it requires more from me than is healthy to give. If the partial property sale fails and the total property sale is the only option, I believe I’m emotionally prepared to move on and make new memories. Even if I don’t leave the house at this time, big changes are in store.
