Soon after Tatay passed away last October the long process of cleaning out of the house in Andover began. Through the funeral, and into the Holiday Season. New Years, Probate, lot splits, and a Pandemic we soldiered on. Fall into Winter into Spring, and now the awakening of summer. On weekends, and evenings, sorting, donating; carloads of memories taken home. Pulling out of the driveway every visit brought a little more finality, a step closer to closure.
In the middle of May a company came to remove all of the remaining furniture and goods that nobody had claimed or could give a proper home to. Over the course of 2 days I stayed at the house watching a crew of five load 45 years of memories and possessions into a 32 foot truck. It was excruciating.
In a short whirlwind of a couple of weeks the house was cleaned, staged, sold and closed. And this weekend we all said our final goodbyes.
One of the last remaining items that remained unclaimed were a collection of rocks that Nanay collected from her travels. Wherever they went, on vacations and day trips near and far, she would always come back with a rock or two. Space permitting she would write on the piece to say where it was from.
We came up with the idea that we should keep them somewhere on the property, so we gathered together one last time, walked back to the creek, and sent them back to nature.
But before we threw them into the water I read something I had quickly put together the night before:
“Today we say a final farewell to a place that will forever be a home to all of us. Forty five years ago Lolo and Lola moved here from Northeast Minneapolis and started a new chapter in the Ancheta family history.
And while today marks an ending, we acknowledge that our families will continue to thrive and grow in places away from this place. And future generations will be able to look upon this place and know what it meant.
What it meant was a dream realized. That with hard work, perseverance, and a little luck, you can achieve what you desire. This house and this soil is testament to that.
These rocks are tokens of that good fortune. Lolo and Lola had the means and the ability to go near and far. To places some of us may never see, or maybe we will be able to follow in their footsteps. So we’ll take away the tokens that we want, and give back to the earth the tokens we no no longer want to carry with us. Back to a place that may no longer carry the Ancheta name, but to mark a place where the Ancheta’s will always remain a part of.
So say a prayer, smile a smile, or shed a tear. Always remember the love that was shared here. And keep them, and this place, forever in your hearts.”
As the final stones plunked into the creek, the final ripples disappeared in the current and we made our way back to the house. I took one last trip through the house and I locked the door behind me. Driving Tatay’s Cadillac down the driveway for the last time seemed appropriate. It was hard to make that final left turn down the road.
It’s been a long goodbye. From the first day that we brought Nanay home in May of 2014 after her stroke, to the final key turning in the lock in June 2020 it’s been a long day coming. Now that the ink has dried on the closing documents for the new owners; maybe the tears can finally dry for the descendants of its former inhabitants.
