Something big happened last week: my parents sold the house I grew up in.
They’d been planning this for a while, so it wasn’t a total surprise. It also wasn’t as sad as it might have been because they’re selling so they can move to Richmond — currently they’re about two hours away in Northern Virginia. Both retired, they’ve wanted to downsize for some time. Richmond made sense for many reasons, not least that four of their five grandchildren live here. All things considered, we’re really happy for them.
Still, closing this chapter feels significant, so allow me to get a little sentimental.
My parents moved into that house in 1979 (forgive the less-than-glamorous winter photo above). It was a new construction at the time, so they — along with my two older sisters — were the first occupants. If you’re doing the math, that was two years before I arrived, which means it’s the house they brought me (and later my little sister) home to after we were born. A lot happened there over the 32 years they owned it, including my mom taking yearly porch photos on first days of school and birthdays (note the homemade banner taped to the storm door behind me).
After they accepted a buyer’s contract early last month, we seized the first chance to gather there one last time for a family portrait. My sister Emily even recreated our mom’s birthday sign tradition for us to pose next to. Here are the original six Petersiks (aka the “Petersix”)…
…and now with our expanded family of spouses and kids. It was POURING during these shots — fortunately my brother-in-law, a professional photographer, knew how to handle it.
My sisters and I wanted to mark the moment with a meaningful gift. After tossing around ideas, we decided on a painting of the house’s front door. They already had a pen-and-ink sketch, and with suggestions from friends online we commissioned a piece by artist Kal Barteski from her T+A (tiny and awesome) series. I sent Kal this photo of the door…
A couple of weeks later — and after splitting the cost four ways among me and my siblings — this arrived. Tiny and awesome, indeed.
The painting is 5 x 7 inches, so not that tiny. Kal paints on thin onion-skin parchment, which gives the piece a wavy, textured look. At first I wasn’t sure, but learning that the material makes each work feel like an original — not a print — made it charming.
Because the onion-skin paper is translucent, Kal suggests matting the painting on colored or patterned paper to add texture. We tried several options but ultimately chose simple white card stock, thinking my parents would prefer a clean, classic look.
We gave it to my parents this week and they loved it — big win!
In case you’re wondering about the sale: my parents got lucky. Before the house was officially listed on March 1, they had a preview showing at the end of February and the visitor made an acceptable offer on the spot. Not bad. Because everything moved faster than expected, they have about six weeks before moving into their new Richmond home. In the interim they’ll be staying at their Delaware beach house and with my sisters in Northern Virginia and Richmond. We can’t wait for the day they officially call our city home.
P.S. The babyproofing adventures continue over on BabyCenter, where we’re sharing how we anchored a large wall mirror in our bedroom — it wasn’t rocket science.