Hiraeth is a Welsh word described as a deep longing for a home, time, or place that no longer exists. It carries a sense of nostalgia, and grief for what has been lost or left behind.

My 93-year-old grandfather Mickey (Thomas Devine) has been living on his own for a few years since the passing of his beloved wife Marjorie Devine. With the efforts of my mum, my uncle, and my brother he has lived comfortably in his 1960s Californian bungalow in Etobicoke, Toronto. 

He recently made the dignified decision to move into a care home. With that we pack up the house that served as a home for many. 42 years ago, Mickey and Marge moved the family to Toronto from Iroquois Falls Northern Ontario. Since then, the house has stood proudly as a host for many Christmases, sleepovers, family dinners and bridge club get togethers. 

Today, it sits filled with old business cards, prom dresses, golf clubs and cassettes from my mum and uncle's younger years. The baby pink walls proudly display my grandfather's collection of Canadian Indigenous art, while the shelves cradle my grandmother's journals and cherished literature. Moving has been a slow unraveling of memories—a quiet mourning of past lives, softened by smiles at old stuffed animals and BB guns from years past. 

As the house was being packed up my dad suggested I photograph it one last time.