A House Beautiful

We are dog/house sitting for friends of ours while they are on a cruise I’ve heard it said you don’t really know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes… I imagine that is true…in their shoes you walk, you run…you roam but I also think you get to know a person when you spend time in their home. As I walk from room to room I realize how their house is their memoir It’s filled with memories…with bits and pieces of who they were…and are. I begin to notice how pictures of their family can be found in every room. It’s like I’m in a museum…I stop…I look…then I resume… I see old people, young people, babies…pictures spanning generations all contributing to the story of one family’s creation. I pause at every picture…and as I visit…one by one… I suddenly realize how many families go into making one. I see love portrayed in pictures of people I know and some who remain unnamed captured for eternity inside a picture frame Perhaps that’s why we have so many pictures…not only for us to easily see but every time we pass…it awakens a memory. In every picture I can see joy…a smile on every face proving quite definitively how happiness fills this place. I’m sure there’s also been some sadness…some tragedy and fear…. Some people in these pictures I’m sure are gone…but their memories linger here. And we are happy to be sitting in their house as off to other realms they roam… Knowing not only do they have a beautiful house…they have a beautiful home. (P.S. Another reason we’re glad to be in charge as they enjoy their birthday cruise…. They left a bunch of unlocked cabinets…and they’re all filled with booze!)