How do I actually say goodbye to a house?

What people tell me actually helped: walk every room once, alone, and let each one have its minute. Photograph the things nobody else would think to. The pencil marks on the doorframe, the view from the kitchen sink, the way the light lands in the hallway late in the day. Host one last unremarkable dinner; the ordinary ones are the ones you'll want back. Some people write the next family a note about what the house knows — where the peonies come up, which step creaks. You'd be surprised what that does for both sides of a sale.

Then leave it cleanly. Don't drive past for a while — give the new family time to make it theirs, and give yourself time to stop reaching for it. The memories ride along with you. They always have.