Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Far Beyond Wood Planks

"Just had to ask - what brand and color are your floors? They are absolutely gorgeous! (I am floor shopping at the moment : )"


Over the years, we've had lots of comments about our floors. We love them so much, but truthfully, it goes far beyond that. 


We had decided to install the floors ourselves. The night before the accident, we had torn out the hallway carpet. I vividly remember Aviana's closed door. As we were removing the tack strips, we contemplated whether the insanely loud noises would wake her up. We quickly laughed at ourselves, as she could sleep through a bomb going off. 


I can hear Dave's voice now, "that was the very last night I ever saw Aviana well." This single thought makes me cry every time. 

A few days after the accident, I looked at the hallway, threw my hands up in defeat and thought, oh well...who knows what we're going to do with that. At that time, we never slept. We would return late from the hospital, and pace the house...all night long. One night though, Dave told me he was going to work on the floors in hopes of putting his mind elsewhere. A few hours later, he told me I should give it a try. I did, and from then on, we worked every night until every square inch was in place. The floors became our saving grace. I remember looking at the very last room, wondering what we were going to do with ourselves once finished.

The floors served as a vehicle. They propelled us forward, physically and mentally. In our personal lives, we were stuck. At the time, we didn't know if we were coming or going. We didn't know if Aviana would live or die. Everything was a mess. The world was crumbling all around us, but in those floors ~ we found stability. In a complete standstill, we found productivity. With each plank, both our minds and bodies were moving forward. In nothing, we found something, something to do, feel, work, occupy, distract. 

When I look at the floors, I not only see beauty, but I see something I can honestly say saved our souls.



Victoria ~ in answer to your question, I talked to S & G and they said the floors were Casa Bella, and the color was Rienzo Maple. They said that particular floor has been discontinued, but there's another in its place. It's called Max Windsor in Creme Brûlée. He said it looks just like ours. I saw a sample and on the inside, I had to laugh. The floor was devoid of all distressing and knots. Yes, it resembled our floor, but without all of the very things that make it our floor : )


I'm sorry this answer was so long winded, but there's just so much backstory to our floors.


Blogger ~ All I have to say is, Grrrr....

2 comments:

  1. your blog has really grown in the writing dept. Some day, you can compose it to a book and sell it. I have seen others do it, including this one very recently: http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/
    and now, http://dandelionmama.wordpress.com/ .

    Maybe another way to look at this blog of yours. Again, thank you for sharing these bits of your life. :)

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  2. Thank you so much for responding! I can totally relate to your feelings - not your tragic circumstance of your daughter - but the feelings. When I was going through IVF, I decided to start updating our kitchen. And through years of fertility treatments, and then years of waiting for our adoption to be completed, I slowly redid our kitchen. It was like therapy because at least I was doing SOMETHING other than waiting and waiting. Thank you so much - your daughter and floors are gorgeous. :)

    Victoria

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