Rain is falling.
Our house is refurbished.
The couple who bought it from an older woman had planned to own it. They were a husband-wife team, the Shoens; he was a general handyman, she was a realtor.
They may have seen it coming, because they put it up on the market right before the market fell off a cliff.
Either that or they ran out of money.
I’m thinking the latter. There are just a few things that were never done… The insulation under the back porch, the front porch railing, the rear gutters…
They did do a fantastic job. But three years into living here, all of those things still aren’t done. We haven’t even painted the walls. We hit the ground running, and there hasn’t been time. The market dipped shortly after we got the house, and our financial situation never really improved much from that point.
It’s so weird to hear about celebrities lives on tv, how they squandered their money on parties and cars, and now live in a modest house or are in a rehab center.
It’s weird because we never squandered anything.
Even when dating we were frugal, making the most of our meager pay by spending time picnicing on abandoned railroad bridges or in parks.
When we got married, we went even further to make our dollars go far.
And yet, it’s been a quick rocking ride to the bottom.
If you squander your money, it’s easy to place the blame. You made the choices, you deal with the consequences.
But who do you blame when you tried to do everything right? When you worked hard to be good stewards of your cash? What do you look at and point out, “yeah, we could have done that better”?
The Shoens, because they were going to keep this house for themselves, left a lot of neat stuff in from the original house.
Tall living room windows, hardwood floors… And an tin skylight in the stairwell.
When it rains, the water dances on the tin, tapping out a rhythm so peaceful it could set all worries at ease. At least it tries to.
Rain is falling.