The Last Party at the Log House

The latter part of this week was consumed by a great tragedy in my life. When I sat down to write last night's post, I had every intention of talking about what had happened and its strange connection to this moment in my life. But it wouldn't come to the surface, and even now can not find its way to print. There is much sorrow mixed with helplessness and the events simply don't form full thoughts that would make any sense. I want to tell you all, but I think I need to be in a certain emotional state to adequately make sense of it...... and that's not where I'm at today.

Instead I want to remember the events of last night and share some of them with those who weren't here. As the title of this post presents, last night was the Last Party at the Log House. It was a smaller affair than many of the other parties the House has hosted, but as some of us reflected later that night, it was the perfect size. In fact, it turned out to be one of the most amazing parties ever. Even though there were some obvious faces absent that would have added to the atmosphere, the vibe of the evening was amazing.

The term, "Wake" was mentioned more than once, but not in a sad way. As my friend Steve informed us, the traditional Wake was usually a party to say goodbye. And with laughter, alcohol, food, destruction of property, beer, fire, dollar-bets, dancing, trivia, drunken-remodeling, music, laughter that made our faces hurt and stomachs ache, we all felt we gave the Log House a proper Wake. We all had our chance to say goodbye in our own personal way, and we all had a good time doing it. And then the night ended as it should have, with some of my best friends in the world, Mike & Ginny, sitting around the kitchen table with me and my Lady until after 3am.

I've said it before, it will be a sobering moment when I move out of this house I've called my home for over thirteen years. My childhood home is the only place I lived longer (and only by one year,) so this is a big deal to me. There are a lot of good memories in this house as well as some very bad ones. But as Mike reminded me, whatever category those memories fall into, the Log House was just the setting, not the thing that happened. And so that's how I choose to say goodbye: remembering the Log House as the place that held me in its arms for many, many years and provided me with the chance to grow friendships and make lasting memories.

With the party done and the mess (mostly) cleaned up, tomorrow starts the packing, gifting, throwing away process. But even as I begin that, the Party itself will begin to become a distinct memory in itself, and will ring clear in my mind as one of the greatest moments I ever had in this beautiful place. And so I raise my glass to you Log House. Thank you for everything. Cheers.