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We had a full-on elevator in our home.
With buttons and an automatic door and everything.
Jason used it every day to get from the main floor to the basement.
He could go anywhere in our home because of that elevator.🙌🏻

When we first moved in, we got stuck in it and had to have the elevator repair guy rescue us.
I was a little leery of it after that.😏

🎄 I hauled the Christmas decorations up in it every year.
🪑 And it was easy to move furniture when I could send it down in the elevator.

But I didn’t love it.

Little kids came over and hit the button, sending the elevator up or down and opening the door automatically.
That always made me nervous.
Safety reasons, you know.

And then there was the time when it stopped working while Jason was in the basement.
My neighbor, Joni and I lifted Jason up our flight of stairs.
Then we lifted his 500-pound chair up those same stairs.
Yes, we did that.💪🏻

I loved that Jason had an elevator but it wasn’t my favorite.
So, after he died, I had it pulled out.
I now have a huge walk-in pantry, instead.
With custom shelving.
And drawers.
And a designated space for the vacuum.
I’ve never really had a pantry before.

The day before the elevator guys removed it, I shed a few tears.
I mourned the loss of the elevator and all that it represented.
No, it wasn’t my favorite, but it was still important to me.

We took one last run up and down in the elevator.
Coleman leading us in the Hall Family cheer as we traveled.
One last elevator run for Dad.

I had to let go of the thing that wasn’t serving me in favor of something new.

I thought that it wouldn’t be a big deal.
I thought that moving on from the elevator would be pretty easy.
It wasn’t my favorite, after all.

Letting go was still hard.
But now I have an awesome pantry.
I think of Jason every time I go in there.
And how we take steps and move over and make room for the next thing.
Sometimes it’s good to let it go.✊🏻💙