If the dress could talk

There was a little something unexpected hanging in one of the closets in the home we've put an offer on.  A wedding dress.  My guess is 70's era, it is long sleeved but reminds me a little of my Mom's.  It's in a clear plastic covering, and angled almost as though it's a good luck charm, a superstition of sorts.

You see, most everything else in the house has been removed, besides some odds and ends.  It doesn't make sense that something so special would be left behind forever.  Unless, of course divorce was the culprit of the house sale, but we know that the family has relocated.

We also know that the sellers are the original owners.  They have taken care to prepare what was their home for eighteen years by updating the kitchen and laying hardwood floors throughout.  There are hints about their interests practically within the walls.  One bedroom has built in bookshelves, and flourescent lights, as though it was used as an office, or perhaps a craft or sewing room.  The basement is very utilitarian.  Industrial tiled floor and cabinets indicate somebody was a handyman.  Before you get to the former workshop, their are built in bookcases at the bottom of the steps into the basement.  There's a country-ish wallpapered bathroom down there as well.  Dated, perhaps, but in conjunction with the weathered bench out front and the rabbit figurines in the flowerbed, the fall themed flag hanging above the garage.... this was someone's home. For a long time.

I remember being offended at the first offer we received on our first home.  We countered and eventually closed the deal.  I remember saying goodbye that last time, to the place where I returned after my babies were born, the neighborhood where family, neighbors, and church family welcomed them and encouraged me while I faced the first few weeks of parenthood with my husband several hundred miles away.  I remember planting daffodil bulbs and rose bushes, digging my flowerbed around the mailbox.  My first neighborhood was filled with friends who saw us grow from being newlyweds to parents.  It saddens me to think that my daughter already only remembers bits and pieces about her first home and its surrounding community..

If that dress could talk, would it tell stories of the children whose feet grew from pitter patters to stomps as they went up and down the stairs and down the long upstairs hallway?  Would it recount conversations about plans to install those built in bookcases, arguments, perhaps, about what project to tackle next?  Tears as children were sent off to college somewhere?  Family holidays in the dining room and kitchen area with that big island.  Where did they play monopoly or cards?  Was there a piano in the living room where I hope to place my grandmother's piano? 

I know I should not get attached yet.  I know that it is entirely possible that we may go through all this negotiating and walk away empty handed.

How can you put a price on memories?  On a home that has experienced all the love and changes, on walls that have so many stories they could tell if they could even speak.  Just a house, to some.
They were surprised by our "low" offer, surely, I hope not insulted, though as I think about it I would not be surprised if they were.  We did our research and tried to be fair based on comps, etc... We have our budget, we have saved in hopes of finally purchasing a home that we can stay in for a long time, and we had to remain objective in the process of formulating an offer.

However, that aged wedding dress which has been hung with care reminds me that once upon a time a young family built their dream home, then stayed for a long while, unlike so many of us who have had to be more transient. I hope that negotiations will succeed, and we'll get the chance to make as many priceless memories there as surrounded that dress.