Since my first born emerged in 2006 I promised her I'd make sure she had the best that I could give her. One of those things I took to heart was the promise of moving to my home town where they have excellent schools and is the safest place I know. I've been trying ever since with nothing but failure. Sure, I've found dozens of homes I wanted to own, just none of them have ever worked out. After years of searching I was starting to get so discouraged. Why was it so much harder for me to go back to the island? Why couldn't I give my kids a house like the one I grew up in? It was an amazing home that has haunted me since the day I left it. I yearn all the time for it. I dream about it almost weekly. I have nightmares that I'm finally back inside and it's being taken away from beneath me, or that I get it back and the inside has been so jacked up it's unrecognisable. For that reason I drive by it all the time and wonder what it looked like inside. For 20 years I've let it consume me. I'd love to give them that. I've day dreamed and lately seriously considered having my real estate agent walk up to their door and hand them an offer. It's just a dream, those people will never leave that house. Their boys grew up there, it's their home now. I'd love to give them a home we could spread out in. Six people crammed in a 1,500 sq. ft, 3 bedroom ranch on 0.15 acres just isn't enough anymore. You definitely walk out of here with a complete understanding of what it feels like to be claustrophobic.
As Kellan approaches Kindergarten I've been antsier than ever to get myself in gear. Luckily, the school district over there has given her a temporary district approval to get her started. We have one year to move or she goes into the lotto for school of choice. On top of that, I've been given professional advice that one year is not enough, that she needs to be waiting for the school bus the first day of school and continue to do so from here on out. I've been stressed to max trying to get myself together to make this happen. It was now June and I had no leads. There has been nothing on the market in our price range to even attempt to purchase. Everything that goes up comes down and sells within a week. I've been so frustrated and nervous and have avoided even bothering to look online to see what's on there. I already knew what I'd find. Nothing.
But a week ago I had a couple extra quiet minutes and thought I'd look once more. I don't know why I bothered, but I did. What I found shocked me and momentarily left me with goose bumps. All my hair stood on end and I froze. When I finally processed a thought again my face was soaked. I picked up the phone and called my Dad screaming and crying, for hell had just frozen over. I had the hardest time spitting the words out and he could barely understand me over the hysterics. I finally got the words out that I need to get out: "Daaaaad! The Lowrie house... it's for sale!" I wasn't sure what act of God had just happened, but I immediately understood what this meant for me. After years of searching and everything falling through, after quietly wishing for this house instead, fate had stepped in when I needed it the most. Maybe.
I hung up the phone with my father and called my agent. I had stopped hysterically crying, but was still screaming like a teenage cheerleader. I had even talked about this house to her before, so she knew the importance of my call. Within ten minutes she had called me back and was on her way to the house. We all made a mad dash for the car to get there as fast as we could. As we entered the front doors I went weak in the knees. I was overwhelmed with a sense of comfort. Walking around to all the rooms I knew every nook and cranny in that house. I knew what exactly had changed and what remained the same. I knew that house better than any write up you could have handed me. My piece of heaven, my utopia was still basically the same. As I walked around in awe I noticed my kids doing the same. Normally they are balls of anxiety just like me looking in someone else's home and trying to figure out how we'd adapt. It wasn't anything like that this time. They were just as calm as I was. Jim seemed at peace too, and truly liked the home as well. I could see the wheels turning in his head with all that property and space. My own wheels were at super speed. I had visions of Kellan waiting for the bus on her first day of school there just as I did. How perfect. It's perfect.
I cried the rest of that afternoon into the night. It was so unbelievable I could barely hold it in. I was so taken back and yet so scared. Until this point nothing had worked out for us, not in the least bit. I knew that either this was fate, or the meanest trick life could ever play on me. If it were the latter I knew I was in for a serious emotional breakdown. Watching another family move in and lose the chance to myself would kill me. I barely slept that night.
Call it fate. I put an offer on it. As of this morning it was accepted. We close August 16th. I'm packing up my family and I'm going home.
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