Frequently messy, almost always loud, smelly boy socks on the floor, cups on couches and tables … my favorite place in Central Park! It is the family room in our home.
We have been in Central Park for 10 years now. We participated in one of many home lotteries when all the builders were in trailers and there was nothing but dirt. We have seen the houses and townhomes go up, the schools built, the East 29th Avenue Town Center come into being and the neighborhood grow and grow. Being in real estate, I almost always find other homes I want to buy, but really our location on Spruce is so perfect, we just cannot move. Our family room has seen laughter, moments of genius, some bad parenting, fantastic parties and get-togethers, holidays, and sad, sad times.
We have watched the boys grow in this room. Legos, Transformers, Thomas the Train, He-Man, Batman, Star Wars, soccer shoes, and now basketball. These days, it’s basketball all the time. We have watched hundreds of shows together here. Played each other on the Wii, put together puzzles, opened gifts, and made some fun and spectacular messes. Ours is not the most fancy, or clean, or even nicest home around, but it is our home. It holds a decade worth of memories, joys, tears and hopes. In quiet moments, it whispers to me of conversations long gone.
I may be totally annoyed by the socks on the floor, but I am also thrilled to see them when I walk in the door … because I am home.
