Adjusting to the realities of change

We've racked up more than 16 years of memories in the same Naperville home since we moved to the Midwest from New Jersey in 1993 to be closer to my folks.

As I reflect on the times when there was much more activity running through it with three youngsters, I'm discovering how much I appreciate adult children. I learn from them. They enlighten me with their passions for the basics - healthful food, fine wines, gardening and sustainable agriculture - during spirited philosophical conversations about economics, politics, life and death.

OK. So I'm a little melancholy as I try to adjust to the new realities facing our world, but I have reasons.

In recent weeks, among the six houses contiguous to ours and the five across the street, four yard signs went up to announce that Amy, Amy, Corrine and Jacob are Waubonsie Valley High School graduates. Two of the 11 homes posted "For Sale" signs, including the house next door.

Every sign indicates our neighbors are planning other pursuits in life.

The good news for our next door neighbors of five years is they had a contract within three days.

For me, reality hit on Friday when they packed up and left for Houston. Originally, they'd planned to move in July. But the new owners wanted occupancy by June 1.

I'll miss our over-the-fence chats while the two young boys played on the backyard swing set they inherited from the neighbors behind us.

I could empathize when their kindergartner said he had "mixed emotions" about leaving Naperville.

Ironically, the peony they'd planted last fall bloomed for the first time Saturday.

Memorial Day

Going forward, the significance of Memorial Day weekend will be forever more meaningful.

From now on, I'll connect the three-day weekend with the time we celebrated my Uncle Jack's life in Wabash, Ind.

Seven years ago, a fall while roofing his barn left my uncle physically disabled, but a second slip five weeks ago was the one from which the 75-year-old could not recover.

While in hospice care, he reminded my aunt to plan a pizza party rather than a funeral.

You may recall stories about Mitchell family reunions - get-togethers of my mother's family every Thanksgiving and July. For more than a decade, the summer reunions have been held in Wabash where Uncle Jack and Aunt Ruthie reared four children and used to raise thoroughbred horses.

Inspired by 20th century futurist Buckminster Fuller, my aunt and uncle lived in a geodesic dome house, known to be environmentally efficient, inexpensive and durable. The three-level home with a greenhouse and many innovative features truly was "the house that Jack built."

By profession, for 34 years Uncle Jack taught high school industrial arts in Wabash County. While teaching he also built 22 homes, invented vacuum systems for which he holds two U.S. patents, designed custom kitchens and played practical jokes.

He was always up for a good game of euchre, bridge or croquet.

After his accident, he came up with the idea for "Educational Models," kits to teach basic construction, and he launched a new business in 2004.

I wore a yellow full-length "formal" as a flower girl when he married my mother's younger sister more than 50 years ago!

And when I was 10, Uncle Jack built four "kid-size" tables and benches for my play school and summer camps - times when I corralled the neighborhood kids for fun in our basement.

My mother tells tales of the tricks he played when my folks traveled with them.

For one, Uncle Jack carried teaspoons with corroded bowls in his pocket.

At breakfast, he'd order a cup of coffee and when served, he'd stick one of his defective spoons into the cup. When the server returned, he'd pull out the spoon and ask, "What's in this coffee?"

He discovered his baritone voice at age 60 - and he carried a tune much like Tennessee Ernie Ford. During reunions, we crammed into the loft overlooking the living room to sing hymns and classic hits with his Karaoke set for hours.

While I perused the displays of my uncle's inventions, photos and a half dozen of those silly spoons, his musical recordings were playing in the background. I also listened as former students shared stories about his impact on their lives.

As we drove home to Naperville, I reminisced about Uncle Jack's influence on my life, wondering if he knew how much I admired him.