Farewell Old Kitchen…and Thanks

Tonight, I emptied the last cabinet in our kitchen.  All the cabinets and drawers are now empty.  The counters are nearly cleared off.  The demolition begins tomorrow morning, bright and early.  The old kitchen should be history by noon tomorrow.

I have such strange emotions tonight.  On the one hand, I am ready to have cabinets that aren’t broken or peeling, a stove that heats to the correct temperature, counter space, storage space.  I keep pinching myself that the new kitchen is really going to be ours and it’s going to be so amazingly great.

On the other hand, this broken kitchen has been our kitchen for the last nine years.  I have organized it and reorganized it to make what we needed fit within its existing space and structure.  I have wiped down the peeling white finish so that it looked as nice as possible.  We have fed two children as babies and now kids here.  The dog food has always been in that awkward alcove under the counter.  It was, well, the center and heart of our home.

And it still will be tomorrow and when the new kitchen emerges, shiny and beautiful.  It will be equipped to handle all of our new memories and meals and dog fuzz and everything.

And, tomorrow, the old cabinets and appliances will get a new life in someone else’s home.  A friend of our contractor is taking them to install in his home.  Recycling at its best.