I felt a pit rising in my stomach the second my family told me we were selling our house, the house that I have spent the majority of my life living in. As relators walk through my home, I cannot help but wonder what you will be like. You may not like your new hometown or neighbors, but I can tell you that this house is special and contains nearly a decade of love and memories.

I can tell you that wall in the back of our kitchen covered in pencil marks is where my mom documented mine and my brother’s heights, a battle which I definitely lost the older he grew. You may notice the small garden in the left-back corner of the backyard; it was once a butterfly garden that I tended to regularly, dreaming that swarms of butterflies would one day come to my garden. There are scratch marks on parts of the kitchen floor from a puppy who is now a nine-year-old dog, and there is a vegetable garden on the left side of the house where chives seem to grow every year no matter what we do.

There are three bedrooms upstairs, but only two were ever occupied. These Jack-and-Jill style rooms are where a brother and sister grew from little kids into young adults, still the best of friends. The shared bathroom became more annoying the older he and I grew, but I wouldn’t change a thing looking back now. It’s weird being in college now and waking up every day to realize that he isn’t just across the hall anymore.

So much has happened in this room you’re moving in to. So many late night conversations with my mom, talking about anything and everything, have taken place here. I have laughed here, cried here, and experienced some of my best and worst moments in this room. This is where I grew up. I left this room for the first time on a more permanent basis last fall, realizing that everything was about to change. I remember every phase, every party, and every misfortune that has ever happened in this house. It has been my home for more than ten years now, but now it is time to say goodbye.

I am not going to lie and say that I wasn’t extremely upset the first time my parents told me they were actually putting our house up for sale. I was and still am afraid of change, of not coming home to the same pink bedroom that has greeted me for years upon years. This house we built may not be ours forever, but I will never forget all the memories I have made there.

I wish you well, whoever you may be. My family built this house, but now it's your family’s turn to make it your home. Trust me when I say you will love living here. The backyard is huge, the neighbors are wonderful, and there is so much green grass and so many blue skies surrounding you that during the summer it’ll take your breath away to take a walk through the neighborhood park. I pass the torch to you, the next girl who will live and grow in this room. This will always be the place where I grew up and consider my childhood home, but now it’s time to go.

I wish you and your family the best of luck and can only hope your family loves this house as much as we did.