Moving on...

On Wednesday morning of this week we moved from 318 Holloway Ave. That house has really been a wondeful place to rest our heads for four and half years. After everything was moved out I walked around a bit. It's a strange feeling to walk through a house you've lived in when it's empty. It looks so different when the signs of life are gone. No pictures hanging on the walls. No unmade beds. No toys left out. No food crumbs on the floor. Just an empty house. It feels impersonal. As I silently walked through I heard the echo of my footsteps. I couldn't help but say some things just to hear the echo of my voice bounce off the wood floors: "Hey!" "Anyone here!" Nothing, but silence. Many good things that took place in that house. That is really the only house Jillian and Conor have ever known. Our San Francisco has been viewed through the lens of that house as home. And you know what? It was a God-send. I remember the day Marcia and I bought it (not an accurate term to reflect the reality of a 30 year mortgage). We knew we had a great deal of work to get it up to par. After countless hours I think it was all worth it. Fixing up that old place was a joy. And our neighbors, oh, they are beautiful people. There are a group of people I count as friends that I would never have met apart from living in that house. Beautiful. Below is the letter we sent to our neighbors as we moved up the hill to our new place. Dear Neighbors:

We want to thank you for the privilege of being your neighbor over the last four and half years. We walk away grateful for the experience of living at 318 Holloway Ave. We feel that we’ve lived in a blessing from above. And you have each been part of our blessing. Thanks for being who you are. We love and appreciate every one of you. These streets and houses hold many vivid memories for us. Early on we sought to establish a solid home, live among you like we would never leave, and yet hold on loosely to each day. We believe we have accomplished our goals.

We want you to know the reasons we’re moving. We have made some important decisions that affect our future days and want to share them with you. As some of you know I (David) have taught urban studies courses part-time at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley for the past few years. Teaching is one of the great joys I have in life, both as a pastor and an educator. It’s joyful because I’m doing what I was created to do. I intend to pursue a long-term dream of teaching in a university. Toward that end I plan to enroll in a Ph.D. program in sociology. Marcia and I have decided that we as a family will align behind this pursuit. Yet, to do it we must give up some things. We bought our little home on Holloway in December 2000. Over the years we have poured hours, energy, and resources into the house for it to be a good place for our family to live, invite, and include. Along the way we have accumulated more debt than we care to maintain. Moving forward we are releasing the house and the debt, in order to embrace God’s goodness moving forward.

We hope you can be happy with us as we move into new territory. And, we also want you to know that we have very intentionally chosen to live nearby so as to stay in the same physical territory. We’re moving to the Westwood Highlands neighborhood. Our address is 429 Melrose Ave. SF. 94127. It really is close. I timed the drive and it was less than four minutes. The walk is great coming down the hill and bit of a cardio workout on the way up. Our phone numbers will remain the same: 415 337-0364 home. 415 710-5735 Dave’s mobile. Email: lantowfam@aol.com. Website: www.lantow.com We, as a family will continue to volunteer in the OMI community through the OMI-CPP (Cultural Participation Project), especially the upcoming International Family Festival on Faxon at Ocean in September.

Happily, ours is not a move where we say goodbye. But it truly is one where we will see you soon. In fact, we want to invite you to join us for a BBQ at our new place in a couple of weeks. If you can, set aside July 30. We’ll get back with you about the details. We hope to host you many more times in the days to come.

Your friends and Neighbors,

David, Marcia, David, Jillian, and Conor Lantow