Homecoming

Piece by piece, we build the Legos.

A part of me has always lived within this house, quiet, untouched, waiting to be renewed.

No more goodbyes.

Weekend football games, ear piercings at the mall, the echoes of laughter and hide-and-seek drifting through these rooms.

The dogs are muddy again, and their hair clings to my jacket. The wool catches every strand, like a reminder of how I’ve missed these small, ordinary days, missed growing older alongside you all.

How grateful I am that I no longer have to say goodbye after a few short days.
I still have the letters, sent from your mother, spanning birthdays and baptisms, kept safe, never thrown away.

Just waiting. Ephemera. Waiting for this moment, to be here, not watching from a distance.

Homecoming.
Week one.
And here I am, finding my way back, piece by piece.