~close one door, open the next~
I saw myself in the face of an elderly woman yesterday.
On Monday we signed the papers on our new home, one that was purchased from the sweetest woman who had been its caretaker for over 60 years. It's not all that often that a guy can do that, you know? More often than not these days, folks buy homes and live there for awhile before moving on to something different and better.
But not that sweet woman and certainly not that special house.
When the keys were handed over to us and we went our separate ways, I couldn't help but to think of my own mother who had found herself doing the same thing in the spring of 2003. At nearly age 83, Mom had to make the decision to let her own home of more than 25 years be sold. Living in a longterm care facility would be expensive, and she had to somehow find the necessary funds to pay for it all. In sadness Mom agreed that it was for the best because she knew that no longer could she live alone.
I was there the day that she and my father moved into that house on my oldest son's 2nd birthday in the fall of 1982. For well over the next two decades, I witnessed all kinds of changes happen. They were the happiest and some of the saddest of times to experience. Children were born, holidays were celebrated, marriages ended, family members fell sick and some died, and yet through it all one thing was for certain.
Life never stopped.
Instead, it continued on.
I bought Mom's old house in 2005 after she sold it first to a good friend who went in and completely changed things up, making it look really nice and new. It was never on the radar for me to purchase it, but when I was approached by the man who did the remodel about the possibility of wanting it, things changed. I went to the nursing home to visit Mom and tell her about it, knowing that she would be happy to see it back in the family once again. After I got settled in and things unpacked, I went to pick her up so she could come back to visit it for the first time in a long while. I remember that visit and was so pleased to see the smile on her face as we went room to room looking at all the changes. I could tell that Mom approved and I was so thankful.
My mother died two years after I bought her old home, succumbing to the effects of renal and congestive heart failure. I continued to live there for 6 years more until Mike and I were married in 2013. Two years later I sold the house to someone else because it was more than I wanted to have to manage. I felt fortunate to have been its owner for 10 years and was ready for someone else to have it.
There will come a moment for all of us who are blessed enough to become older, to realize the time has come to part with precious things we have held onto with all that is within us. It's the inevitable part of life called change, and you can do one of two things as you face it. You can fight it with all you have in you or accept it as the God given sign that it's time to close one door and open the next.
I saw myself in the face of an elderly woman yesterday.
25 years into the future, she will be me.
May I make life changing decisions with the same grace that she did.
On Monday we signed the papers on our new home, one that was purchased from the sweetest woman who had been its caretaker for over 60 years. It's not all that often that a guy can do that, you know? More often than not these days, folks buy homes and live there for awhile before moving on to something different and better.
But not that sweet woman and certainly not that special house.
When the keys were handed over to us and we went our separate ways, I couldn't help but to think of my own mother who had found herself doing the same thing in the spring of 2003. At nearly age 83, Mom had to make the decision to let her own home of more than 25 years be sold. Living in a longterm care facility would be expensive, and she had to somehow find the necessary funds to pay for it all. In sadness Mom agreed that it was for the best because she knew that no longer could she live alone.
I was there the day that she and my father moved into that house on my oldest son's 2nd birthday in the fall of 1982. For well over the next two decades, I witnessed all kinds of changes happen. They were the happiest and some of the saddest of times to experience. Children were born, holidays were celebrated, marriages ended, family members fell sick and some died, and yet through it all one thing was for certain.
Life never stopped.
Instead, it continued on.
I bought Mom's old house in 2005 after she sold it first to a good friend who went in and completely changed things up, making it look really nice and new. It was never on the radar for me to purchase it, but when I was approached by the man who did the remodel about the possibility of wanting it, things changed. I went to the nursing home to visit Mom and tell her about it, knowing that she would be happy to see it back in the family once again. After I got settled in and things unpacked, I went to pick her up so she could come back to visit it for the first time in a long while. I remember that visit and was so pleased to see the smile on her face as we went room to room looking at all the changes. I could tell that Mom approved and I was so thankful.
My mother died two years after I bought her old home, succumbing to the effects of renal and congestive heart failure. I continued to live there for 6 years more until Mike and I were married in 2013. Two years later I sold the house to someone else because it was more than I wanted to have to manage. I felt fortunate to have been its owner for 10 years and was ready for someone else to have it.
There will come a moment for all of us who are blessed enough to become older, to realize the time has come to part with precious things we have held onto with all that is within us. It's the inevitable part of life called change, and you can do one of two things as you face it. You can fight it with all you have in you or accept it as the God given sign that it's time to close one door and open the next.
I saw myself in the face of an elderly woman yesterday.
25 years into the future, she will be me.
May I make life changing decisions with the same grace that she did.
My mom and I in the spring of 2004 when she came to say "good-bye" to the house on 14th Street in Hutchinson, Kansas. One year later she would return when I became the new owner.
Comments
Post a Comment