What is your idea of heaven?
Mine is that MyMike and I live in a cute little house and all the people we love live on the same street in their cute little houses (mansions, whatever you like. . . . I'm just a simple girl!) By that I mean my children, my parents, my siblings, all my wonderful relatives I love, and my dearest friends can be on the next block over with their extended family etc.
Well, my parents just bought the house that is only three doors down from mine! YES!!!
I am still in shock and yet I am so excited at the same time! Can heaven be starting already???
They haven't even been inside it yet. Can you believe it? Trust me, I keep pinching myself. Could you buy a house without walking inside it? I feel a major responsibility - I hope they like it. They assure me that they do, from what they've seen on the internet. Really????This is beyond what I ever would have imagined. We're used to living states away, not steps.
When my parents were here in March, they liked the area we live in. Of course, they like Nashville too where my brother, Rob, lives, but my mom can't do the humidity, which is why they wouldn't live in Maryland either. However, my mom has always liked the weather in Colorado because it reminds her of Canada, but a lot less snow and cold. My dad would take drives while he was here, just to check out the area and the more he drove, the more he liked.
Anyhow, at Easter, this house on our street came on the market. I didn't think my parents would be interested because it was down the street and not up, and the views are better the higher up you go, but I mentioned it was for sale and just left it at that.
I didn't hear much about it until I called my mom on Mother's Day and she said my dad was seriously thinking about the house. Really??? She said it looked good on the internet and they had some questions. So on Monday, my dad calls me twice. Then I called our realtor. Then I called back and I talked to my mom - Are you sure you really want to do this?? Move at your age? Start anew one more time? Leave your good life? Leave a heated driveway on a golf course to live in a more snowy location at a higher altitude with your asthma? Really ??? Not see everyone who passes through Salt Lake? Sell the cabin???? I mean these are big things for my parents, as they would be for anyone. As far as I can tell, my family and the mountains and being closer to my brother in Denver are the only draws - small compared to what they currently have. I would totally understand if they wanted to stay put.
As luck would have it (is there any such thing, really?) I already was planning on meeting my realtor for brunch on Friday just because she was so wonderful and we wanted to keep in touch. So, she made an appointment to walk down and check out the house at that time too. When we walked in, it was nice. Its the same floor plan as my house with some minor changes inside, and big changes outside, but it is Very nice. Had a lot of improvements, beautiful finishes, 5 inch hickory floors with a fabulous finish - LOVE! Gorgeous two level Trex decking out back, but best of all - stunning mountain views from both the main level and the garden-level basement windows. Plus they still back onto the meadow that we love. Its not an evergreen pine forest, but it is nature, and you're not even five minutes from gorgeous pine forest. . . so . . .
they made an offer.
Then on Saturday someone else came through and made a better offer,
I felt like I'd had the wind knocked out of me -
Wait, was this really too good to be true???
and so my dad made another offer,
and called us Sat. night, asking for our prayers,
which every member of my family did, some repeatedly ( at least I know I did!)
and
This morning we got the call - Their offer was accepted. They get the house!!!
So, for a little while we will live in heaven on earth. I know that my parents are getting older, aren't we all? And, there will be hard things in the future, as there always are, but at least we will be close enough to do something to really help. The joy of sharing day to day life and more conversations and memories and dinners will be a blessing to treasure for as long as we can.
I can only hope everyone else I love will move close-by too. I think I have talked all my children into settling in this area forever. BigBuddy wants to live in the forest, and LittleBuddy wants to be his neighbor, but that's only five minutes away, so I'm good with that. MyGirl said she won't mind being in our same ward because she'll have a different name, and Cowgirl said she wants to move here or less than an hour from here after she graduates, so that's the dream.
Maybe I better get pinched one more time. I still can't believe its real!
The closing is the end of July - time for my parents to get their house on the market, and for this other couple to find a house and move. No one thinks they're going to sell their house in two weeks, but when its right, its right. I'm living proof.
In church a new family moved in and mentioned they also felt the need to live closer to their family, so they up and moved from San Diego. It was a big part of our motivation to come as far as we did, and now my parents have bridged the rest of the distance.
Oh, yes, life is good!
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