As our daughter and son-in-law continued their search for the perfect forever home, their lives continued to remain busy and active. One weekend in January Jamie went on a men’s retreat with their church. So on Friday night we had dinner with Beth. Our son Mark joined us, too. Mark asked about the house they had been eyeing. “Have you sent the letter yet?”
“As a matter of fact I mailed it this week,” Beth replied. “I expect to hear from her soon.”
“What makes you so sure, honey?” I asked.
“I just know,” she said with a smile.
And sure enough, on Saturday morning when Beth was out shopping with a friend, the call came. The daughter of the homeowner called Beth and told her she was both happy and sad to receive the letter about Beth’s interest in her parents’ home. She was pleased to know that someone was interested in the house and she knew she had to do something now that her mother had passed away and the house was sitting empty. But she was sad because she had grown up in this home and it held so many memories for her, such a milestone in her life.
There were lots of tears in the conversation – Laurie coming to terms with possibly selling the house she grew up in, and Beth feeling excitement that this might just be the right house for her and her husband – and for the family they one day hoped to raise there.
Laurie told Beth she knew it was the right thing to do to sell the house. In fact Laurie was planning an estate sale and was coming to the house to sort through things in March. She encouraged her to go and look in the windows and walk around the outside. “You may not even like the house at all,” Laurie said. But even sight unseen on the inside, Beth had a hunch she would love it.
So when Jamie came home from his church retreat Beth had lots of news. Together they went to the house and peeped in the windows that were uncovered (not many). It seemed to hold lots of promise from what they could tell. Waiting until March to see inside seemed like a long time off.
On Monday Laurie called Beth back and said her neighbor, the one who had been looking after the house since Laurie’s mom had left, would be willing to let Beth and Jamie in to see the inside. They wouldn’t have to wait six more weeks! Beth thanked her and said they would schedule a time for the next week. Beth had her own church retreat for women on the upcoming weekend and she wanted to remain focused on that, rather than on the possibilities of this house. So they would wait one more week.
That Monday brought some other news into their lives as well.
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