He could not leave his home; it was his castle and it was his place of comfort for so many years. He was happy in this home of his, he had times of joy, times of defeats, and times of tears. This was his home. It was the home he brought his new wife to and that wonderful day when he carried her in. This was the home for his young family, of three young children. This structure of wood, cement, concrete, sand, and stone was everything to him.
The years had passed and the children had grown. They were now studying at university. His wife Linda was not as well as she used to be, but she took care of their home, from the freshly pressed curtains she put up on the windows at the beginning of each month, to the potted plants on the window sill she cared for every day. Alex was always away at work. He liked watching the light-bulbs shine behind the frills and the curtains, as he walked back home. Linda took good care of the house and the family. Linda always made it feel like a well-loved home.
A decade later Alex was seventy-years-old, he was greyer and always felt so cold. Linda had passed away five years ago. The three children were married and had children of their own. All three of his children had moved away with their families. The home was quieter now and there was not much activity, except for the sound of Alex as he made his fresh cup of tea.
The land developers had bought the land and they wanted to break the old house and build multi-storeyed buildings for fifty families to live in. Alex was not prepared to leave his house. He did not want to leave his castle and his home.
The wrecking ball came to the front door in the month of June. Alex watched as his home was broken into shattered bits of wood, cement, sand, and concrete. All the warm memories of love and family, that he had in that home, were all destroyed. Alex was heartbroken at the destruction that lay before him. There was nothing that he could have done, the big construction company had won. The wrecking ball kept smashing his home, till nothing remained standing, not a doorway or a window frame. The wrecking ball smashed into everything that stood in its way, turning it into dust and clay. The wrecking ball was breaking walls no longer needed. Alex watched his home lie in ruins, as he sat in the car of his eldest son, Raymond, as he took him home.
A year later when Alex passed his old house, as his son drove him to the pension office, he was amazed at what he saw. There was a large building where his old home used to be, it was brand new and it was a marvel to see. He noticed young children coming out of the building, with their parents taking them to school. Alex was happy at what he saw, so many young families, new homes, and new stories being told. Alex realized that his home needed to go to make way for so many new homes for families to begin their stories. The old makes way for the new and life carries on, it is so true.