So I found out a while ago that my parents are selling the house I grew up in. Even though I'll be leaving for college and moving into off-campus housing, there's still a major sting that comes with knowing that my next Christmas will be in a new house... one without memories.

My parents moved there in 1977 and it was a year later they had my sister. Then ten years after that I came along.

As I'm sure you all can relate, there are TONS of memories in that house... poignant and otherwise.

It was where my parents let me make my first REAL big decision... what kind of wallpaper for my bedroom. My parents pushed for soldiers or race cars. But I chose jungle animals with elephants, lions, zebras and giraffes. I had (and loved) that wallpaper... and I never regretted it. I was four.

It was where I had my first boy/girl encounter... Erika and I, playing doctor... I was 6.

It was where I found a gun and a box of condoms in my parents bedside table....I was 8.

It was where I first ever made out with tongue while playing Spin the Bottle. Abby freaked me out when I went to kiss her and she shoved her tongue down my throat. I was 11.

It was where I walked into the dining room to bring my grandmother a glass of water as she ironed clothes, and as I handed her the glass, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and fell with a thud that sounded like a bag of potatoes hitting the floor. She died of a stroke two days later. I was 12.

It was where my Dad and two uncles taught me how to play Poker for dimes. I was 14.

It was where I came out to my family. I was 16.

It was where my best friend throughout high school, confided in me that his parents were splitting up and his dad was moving in with the girl he cheated on his wife with. I was 17.

It was where I lost my virginity. It was the most special sexual and loving moment I've ever had. I was 18.

It was the house where I look at now as a major symbol of my past... of who I was when I was back then, but not who I am now.

A major part of me will always be that little boy, sitting in that house in his bedroom with the jungle wallpaper... looking at the animals thinking how huge the world really is.

The truth of the matter is, I never even had a clue just how huge it is...