Earlier this month I sold my little house in North Carolina. I bought it in 2014 from The Women’s Center of Wake County. It used to be temporary housing for battered and homeless women and their children. The non-profit maintained it well for a rental, but when they turned over the keys I sat in the house and felt the ghosts. This place had sheltered women in desperate need, and those who lived under this roof left lighter and safer than when they came. But the house held onto some of the darkness and exhaustion. Ten shades of beige on the walls, general grime on every surface, scratches on the floor, busted pipes, and holes in the doors. Toys buried in the yard. It needed a good witch to work some cleansing magic. So with the help of my dad, and my whole amazing family really, over the last three and a half years, that’s what I did. • Painted the cedar siding bicycle yellow with robin’s egg shutters. Planted a pollinator garden in front AND in back. Bird boxes and bee hotels. French drain, front porch, driveway, retaining wall and massive paver patio. All trenched/dug by hand. Blood, sweat, tears. And the inside got new/refinished hardwoods, beadboard, dishwasher, washer/dryer, gold ceilings, and a total bathroom overhaul, but kept the original 1965 stove and cabinets. I called my house the B Hive, and some of the ladies I love most stayed under its roof with me. When I got home from long tours, I would literally hug the walls because I was so glad to be back in it’s soft glow. But moving to Nashville was always a goal, and when the opportunity came suddenly last December, I packed up my life and said goodbye to my Hive with little fanfare. • When I came back 4 months later to sign the papers, I sat in the house again and felt all the love, that I gave and I got. No haunts anymore, only happy memories in every bright corner. I cried a lot. I’m just another woman in a long line that has been launched safely into the world thanks to these four walls. Change is hard. Change is good. Caring is hard and good too. Tha