A Holiday Tradition

I was planning to post about my storage unit tonight, about how it's empty and that chapter of the moving process had ended.

Then I saw this.

Regular readers might be familiar with my entry about saying goodbye to my favorite spots. About the fact that I've grown up in Orange County, and so many of my memories are tied into this area.

Especially the Snoopy House.

I was in Kindergarten the first time my mother and I discovered the Snoopy House. Maybe pre-school. We were driving home, and suddenly our eyes drifted to this house on an ordinary corner covered in Peanuts decorations. No, I know what you're thinking. What are a few decorations? But this was something special. Large, wooden, moving displays. Snoopy, Charlie Brown and their friends ice skated, and played in the band. Santa would come for an entire week. This was where I went to visit Santa, no department stores for me.

I went every year. I went throughout my childhood, my teenage years, and well into adulthood. I introduced my friends to the house, and made special trips with my mother. I wrote in the guest book, thanking them for years of memories. I drank apple cider on the lawn, smiled at the next generation of children, and tried to think of children I could introduce this wonderful tradition to.

And now it's gone.

Year after year I would drive by, praying that it would still be there. And now it won't be.

Goodbye Snoopy House. Thank you for being a part of my holiday tradition for so long.