Fireside: An ending
We moved to Ontario three years ago - and after crossing the border and taking some deep breaths, we began to settle into our new home at The Fireside. The Fireside began as a community home in the Fall of 2013 - and since then has had a variety of iterations and transformations, but has continued to serve as a collective, collaborative, hospitable, community home for a group of 5-7 young adults, often University of Waterloo students, and almost always an Enns family child. When we joined in 2016, Matt and I took over as house managers, and in there 3 years we lived there we have shared the space with 6 other roommates.
Matt and I have enjoyed the energy of our community home, the convenience of insta-friends at our fingertips, the opportunity to host people and events, and the wonderful yard space for Firepits, chickens, gardening, and play. We have shared many meals, made much wine, and built community around games and firepits.
And now we have reached a time of ending for The Fireside.
On Friday night we celebrated this community with a cooling party - and gathered with friends, old and new, around a firepit to enjoy the wonderful summer evening and some snacks.
This week a handyperson/contractor begins the prep work to bring the house to the market in the fall.
Sometime in the next few months the house will go on the market and the home will be sold.
I realized this weekend that while I am grateful for the community that the Fireside provided and excited about the new dreams and opportunities for Matt and I, I am also grieving the end of this home. The potential for community building and hosting, the wonderful privacy of a backyard, the privileged of chickens, the comfort of living with my sister. As art work comes off walls and furniture is moved around, the home looses character and I wonder if the vision of hospitality that it represented will continue. I wonder about the decision to downsize, to live alone with Matt, to build community in other ways - and I pray that we will be able to create a home that is similarly filled with love and hospitality, if in different ways.
I also want to acknowledge how I have grown living in community these last few years - learning to be clear about expectations, to be open and honest about when I don't always follow through with commitments, to hold out grace to self and others, to practice hospitality and learn that the table, the intimacy, the conversation, always has room for one more - even when unexpected. And also learning about limitations, learning when I can stretch and when I need some space to reground myself, about how to prioritize privacy at times, and how to ask for what I need. I expect that theses lessons will be relearned again and again, and that living alone with Matt in this next season will show me new places to grow.
Matt and I have enjoyed the energy of our community home, the convenience of insta-friends at our fingertips, the opportunity to host people and events, and the wonderful yard space for Firepits, chickens, gardening, and play. We have shared many meals, made much wine, and built community around games and firepits.
And now we have reached a time of ending for The Fireside.
On Friday night we celebrated this community with a cooling party - and gathered with friends, old and new, around a firepit to enjoy the wonderful summer evening and some snacks.
This week a handyperson/contractor begins the prep work to bring the house to the market in the fall.
Sometime in the next few months the house will go on the market and the home will be sold.
I realized this weekend that while I am grateful for the community that the Fireside provided and excited about the new dreams and opportunities for Matt and I, I am also grieving the end of this home. The potential for community building and hosting, the wonderful privacy of a backyard, the privileged of chickens, the comfort of living with my sister. As art work comes off walls and furniture is moved around, the home looses character and I wonder if the vision of hospitality that it represented will continue. I wonder about the decision to downsize, to live alone with Matt, to build community in other ways - and I pray that we will be able to create a home that is similarly filled with love and hospitality, if in different ways.
I also want to acknowledge how I have grown living in community these last few years - learning to be clear about expectations, to be open and honest about when I don't always follow through with commitments, to hold out grace to self and others, to practice hospitality and learn that the table, the intimacy, the conversation, always has room for one more - even when unexpected. And also learning about limitations, learning when I can stretch and when I need some space to reground myself, about how to prioritize privacy at times, and how to ask for what I need. I expect that theses lessons will be relearned again and again, and that living alone with Matt in this next season will show me new places to grow.
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