When I moved into my home four years ago, I discovered we had a koi pond. I had known the water feature was in the backyard but did not realize it was filled with fish until after we bought our home. I was standing on the back deck with my mom, who was visiting from New Jersey, and our incredible buyer’s agent, Dave Scriven. I looked down and saw lots of fish.

I am not a fan of fish. Something about them just make me squirm. My husband fishes and has asked me to go with him. My response is “not if you are going to be catching anything”.

A few weeks later Dan and I moved in. Dan started feeding the fish, and we’d spend time on the deck watching them. I started to think they were kind of neat. A few more months pass, and I start to realize that we have less fish. Then we get woken up in the middle of the night one day to animals screaming in our back yard. Dan went out to find a cat chasing a raccoon from the middle of the pond. We realized the fish were getting eaten.

A few years go by. We have a baby, who becomes a toddler, and we realize the pond is a safety hazard for her. When we went to fill in the pond, there were only two fish left. We were planning on moving them to a new home but the day Dan went out to do so, they were gone.

Recently we have gotten exciting news. Dan got a job offer in McLean Virginia, just outside Washington DC. I keep looking around our home and being sad. I love our home, and wish I could just put it on a truck and take it cross country with me. From the layout, to the little touches, to the memories we have here, I just really love it. I am really sad about leaving our home, and as we put it for sale on the market tomorrow, I am hoping another family will soon enjoy it like we have.

Dan is a Douglas Adams fan, so to our home, “Goodbye and thanks for all the fish”.