surprise visitors.

after i put finn down for a nap this afternoon, i found myself in our warm and sunny kitchen folding laundry and reminiscing about the past two years we've had here in our home, and how quickly the time has gone by.  as i was shaking out a sheet, there was a little rap at the door.  i was surprised, because i wasn't expecting anyone, but when i glanced over i saw a big white beard and immediately thought it was our friend larry who painted the kitchen for us.  i smiled and headed to the door, but then i realized it wasn't larry at all. 

it was santa!
actually, it really was santa!  and it wasn't.
standing on our front porch was a fellow named kevin, who grew up as a little boy in this house (one of many little boys actually), and eventually became the executor of the estate after his parents passed away.  he is the man we bought the house from.  he also so closely resembles santa claus that he dons the red suit throughout the holiday season professionally.

we haven't seen kevin or his wife since we bought the house almost two years ago, so i was really happy when they stopped by.  we have done so much work, and i was really anxious to see what he thought.  they were also just as anxious to see what we had done, and i could barely keep up as kevin rushed from room to room with eyes twinkling.

i don't know why, but it was so very important to me to have their approval.  i think because the house is so very special, and because it was so very special to them.  a family was born and raised here.  a family lived in these walls for 60 years before we did.  an entire lifetime of memories were made.  when we work on this house, we try to do justice to those memories.  it has always been important to me to honor them.

kevin and his wife noticed so many things that warmed my heart.  how the rooms looked brighter and bigger because of the way i'd hung the curtains.  how the way i'd placed the furniture away from the walls made the family room more inviting.  how the thrifted decor we work so hard to collect and choose specifically works so well in the space.  they were so happy with what we had done.  he said the newly painted back room looked like a wyeth painting.  i could have died right then and there. 

they were also so happy with little things we hadn't changed.  things we knew had stories behind it or were full of character. 
like left the razor hole in the bathroom wall:

 ("my dad put his old razors in there! they're probably still there!"). 

and not replaced a broken glass in one of the bedroom cabinets:

 ("i punched that out when i was drunk one night and my dad wore me out!"). 

they loved hearing that billy still uses the stone fire pit outside to grill on, just like they did.  and that we host big christmas gatherings with music and laughter, just like the ones they had for so many years before us.

each of the seven family members that grew up here were or are still career musicians.  most of them have been professionally recorded.  lefty, the oldest brother, in his late 70's, plays and sings in nursing homes for $30 a week.  he just can't imagine doing anything other than music, and he never has.  he is the kind of musician i respect the most. 

kevin and his wife just played a sold out concert a few weeks ago in kennett square.  music was such a big part of their childhood here and their lives in general, so the fact that the house is still riddled with pianos, guitars, drum sets and amps made kevin positively giddy.  he stopped to sit in the music room and play one of billy's guitars and sing for a few minutes.  i know that his father passed away a few feet from where he was playing, in that very room.  seeing him there humming a tune with a smile on his face and memories flooding over him made me feel honored.  and it made me feel proud. 

we are so blessed to be able to carry on a tradition of music and family behind these walls.