Despite the layers of wallpaper, the overcrowded rooms, the chipped paint on the exterior I loved you from first moment I first saw you.

When I bought you I was broken and trying to pick up the pieces of a shattered heart and destroyed dreams.

For 8 years, 6 months, and 4 days I called you home.

You helped heal my heart, kept my pups safe and warm in the winter, hosted family dinners, baby and wedding showers, withstood a tornado, hurricanes, and blizzards.

You stood empty for months as I traveled the globe, opening your arms as I walked through the back door when I returned home.

You gave me everything you had.

I thank you and I honor you.