friday flashback - the one with the past and the present

I have logged a lot of hours in this old house of mine. Probably more than you would have imagined. You see my parents bought this house when I was ten. I grew up here, became a teenager, a woman, a wife and a mother here. Some where in between all that my Mom offered us the opportunity to buy it from her. It's been a strange trip, to be raising my kids where I was raised and there are times when the parallels are very apparent.

Our house is unique in that every room on the first floor, with the exception of the bathroom, has a minimum of two doors into it (the kitchen has 5). Now back in the day, Dave and I would spend hours chasing each other around the main floor in endless circles. It was always great fun until that day one of us broke my Mom's closet doors. Which was not the same day we broke the couch and then fixed it such a way that Mom didn't find out until months afterwards.

The other night as we finished up dinner, the kids had been excused and Mike and I were delaying the after dinner clean up process and chatting about important things like who was going to get the boot from Dancing With the Stars. As we talked Maya went toddling by, making that adorable little kid chuckle that comes from deep in her belly. Close behind her was Abby, shortening her steps to let Maya stay in front of her. They disappeared through the door at the far end only to reappear through the laundry room. It was then I realized Abby was "chasing" her just like Dave and I used to do back in the day. The chase continued for several more minutes, Abby always careful to match her pace to her sister and to "catch" her every so often.