Every January 30th is a small celebration for us. It’s the day in 2016, that we moved into our current house. Our Toronto home that we never imagined we would find. Its the day that we reflect on how much we have enjoyed it and how much our family has grown. You remember the new furniture. You remember figuring out how things worked. You remember planning where everything was going to go.
Every January 30th, I do take a few moments to remember a lot of these things. What always jumps out to me is how lucky we were to get the house in the first place. So many things went our way to make it happen. The right place. The right time. It could have gone so different.
Even just a year later, I don’t know if we could have been able to do it. With the housing market and just how expensive things became, we scored.
That first day – moving day – is all so fuzzy in my head. It was a long and tiring day. What I do remember is we started the day over at our Indian Trail apartment living in a land of boxes.
The boys at the time were six and three and really had little idea what was going on. Harry was in Grade 1 at Howard. Charlie was in daycare.
As we moved on a Saturday, we did not have to worry about school. Instead the boys went to spend the day and the night at their Nana and Papa’s house. That left Katie and I to handle the move.
We did not have a great deal to move as I had been carting stuff over via the car since the 19th when we got keys. All that was left were the big things and what we were using to live.
We hired movers and went about the day.
I don’t remember much more other than just being super busy. You know when you go into that zone of just trying to get through it and not take any of it in.
Even trying to recall the day. I have can see small glimpses of the movers bringing stuff in. I remember a chair that we wanted to go into our bedroom, would not fit into the doorway.
I remember meeting our neighbours, who without knowing us at all, helped carry stuff from the car to the porch. This was a foreshadowing of having outstanding neighbours, who are now our friends.
I remember it all being done. Being tired and just needed to eat. We went out into our new neighbourhood and ended up at The Rhino. A bar I had been to a few times before, but never as a family guy.

We ate, we drank, we sat in silence I think because we were so tired. But we were in. We were in our new home.
Eight years later I am still very happy being here. So much has changed. We’ve added a new range, air conditioning, renovated the basement and tried out so many variations of where things go.
The boys have literally grown up in this house. They went from sharing a room, to their own room. We always ask the kids if they remember moving in that day. They don’t really. They remember early memories like living room dance parties and playing in our tiny backyard.
Eight years isn’t a big number for an anniversary, but for me, it’s easily the longest I have lived in the same place not counting where I grew up in Corunna.
So, cheers to us. Cheers to living on the Earn. I can’t wait for many more years to come.