It's natural you'll have feelings of regret when you've lived in a place so long, but you said it yourself - it isn't the same as it was.
The time is right for a change.
When we moved to this house, we'd lived at our previous house for 20 years. We virtually rebuilt the house - wall ties, damp proof course, woodworm treatment, new roof, new windows and doors, re-wired, installed central heating, new kitchen, rear extension etc etc. There was quite a bit of emotional attachment to the place. But. We moved because although the place had been a lovely little community when we first moved in, by the time we left it had become a wholly different place. It was full of drug addicts and dealers, Angry young men with huge status dogs. Arson and burglary were endemic weekend practices and there were an awful lot of "problem families" who spent their time drinking, shouting, fighting and creating trouble.
When the removal men came, we packed up the boxes and left without a second glance.
Your new house sounds lovely, and you make a home from the things and the love you put into it. Look forward to a new chapter in your life, and don't panic. Make sure you're organised and know exactly what you're going to do with regard to the cats and make sure everyone on the day understands too.
If you can, colour code your boxes with different coloured stickers for each room - ie red for your kitchen, yellow for your living room etc - makes it a lot easier for people to know where to put things. Or write the room on the top and sides of the boxes. Check on the cats and then unpack food and water and their familiar things for their room, your kettle and stuff for tea/coffee making for you, then get your bed up and made. That way, when you're totally exhausted sorting everything out, you can fall into bed.
