The last day of the garage..

The boys came home this weekend for a final farewell to 'the garage'.

For the last 12 years or so the back half of our double garage has served as a den for the boys and their friends. My eldest son started it off, but it was my second son, two years behind, that really established the 'garage' cult that became legend among the local lads (and a few girls). So much so that it was mentioned in dispatches at the boy's school end of year speeches!
The 'garage' acquired a couple of sofas and chairs, a few TV screens, a number of game consoles and 100s of DVDs, CDs, videos and games. Over the years various friends added to the wall art, and many memories were made along the way - not only for the kids but for the whole family.
A number of the boys friends frequently stayed overnight, and one famous visitor became such a fixture that he got his own Christmas Advent calendar to open!
The local pizza delivery place learnt to deliver at the back door, and we would often find the boys' friends camped out waiting for them to come home.

Now both boys have been living away from home and working in London for a couple of years. Miss L and I have growing needs to store and work on our various projects - scrap booking, sewing and photography, and we have been looking at the garage space with growing enthusiasm to turn the space into a studio! So I broached the subject and the boys agreed the time had come to say goodbye to 'the garage'.
So all old friends were contacted and since yesterday we have had a steady stream of familiar faces sitting on the old sofas in 'the garage'. Most of them are buying their own homes now, many are driving and in long term relationships, they have jobs and responsibilities, but they all remember the garage years with huge fondness.
Tonight is the last farewell. The man even made a cake.
I feel a tug of nostalgia and a twinge of guilt, but these quickly disappear when I think about my future studio plans!

Time flies over us, but leaves its shadow behind.
~Nathaniel Hawthorne~