Going there

These are all places in St. Lucia, where I will be going with my daughter and two of her college friends for spring break at the end of the month. We won't be staying in any of these luxury homes. We will be staying at my mother's house, which has been undergoing a renovation that includes a new and much needed roof, repair of water damage from the last hurricane, pulling up the old carpet in the bedrooms and den and putting down easy-to-clean tiles, refurbishing the bathrooms and powder room, painting everything, reupholstering some of the furniture, and so on.

The house now looks nothing like it did when my mother was there, so I am having a little emotional storm about that, and I need to prepare myself. I need to now think of it as a house in St. Lucia we can go to, that is steps from the beach and adjacent to a very lively part of town, dining and entertainment wise, and how lucky are we to have that. I have no idea if I will even like the new decor. I haven't yet seen any pictures, but the real estate agent, who is responsible for renting the place to short term renters and earning a commission from that, likes it, so I suppose that is what matters.

I have a knot in my chest as I write this, remembering the house where my father last lived with my mother, the house my children went to each summer growing up, to spend the month of August with their grandmother and their cousins, and how much they are who they are today because of those summers. I pray that I make the transition to the new life of that house with enough grace and gratitude, and how blessed I am that my daughter wants to make this trip with me. We will all have a fine time, no matter what, and life carries on.