Tuesday, June 18, 2013

For the Love of 436 S. Prindle

For my entire life, 436 S. Prindle has been an important address. It is the address of my Grandmother and Grandfather's home and the gathering point for our entire family. We visited almost every weekend growing up. Probably 99.9 percent of my memories of my grandparents took place at that address. It feels like a part of my heart resides there.

Now that both of my grandparents have gone to heaven, the time has come to find a new, loving family for their home. I never thought this day would come. I just thought my grandmother would always be sitting at her kitchen table with her coffee and my grandfather would always be tinkering away in the garage.

To say this is an emotional transaction would be an understatement, but I have put on my "business" hat to help handle the details -- for my father's sake, mostly. He says this is one of the hardest things he has ever had to do in his life. I'm glad I can be here holding his hand through it.

One thing that has really helped is that we were able to hire my favorite Realtor to do the job. He's amazing and "gets" it. He gave us some pointers, picked the price point and sent it out to the market.

After only eight days, we received an offer that brought us all to tears. The offer was from a young family who sent a letter with their offer to let us know how much they would like the home. They said they grew up in the same town as 436 S. Prindle, and their families live only blocks away from the house. They said they wanted to make our house their home as they raise their family.

I'm pretty sure this is the only way my father and aunt would have been able to "let the house go." I think my Grandfather in heaven knows this. It had to be a family. And I'm certain they were hand-picked.

Wanna know something else really cool? The closing date the buyers selected is my grandfather's birthday. July 12. I just had to smile when I saw that. It was totally unexpected, and nothing short of a miracle when I think about everything we went through in preparing the house to go on the market --  all of the cleaning, painting, planting and more.

At first we worked at a leisurely pace, but then we suddenly had only three weeks before our deadline to get it on the market in time for summer, and then my father ended up in the hospital for two of those three weeks, totally unable to help us.

And then there's the story of the buyers -- who knows how they ended up at this exact time ready to buy this exact house, but I'm sure they think it's pretty amazing, too. If only they knew they are buying more than a house -- they are buying a home filled with much love and many cherished memories. I pray they will make many wonderful memories there, as well.

I swear, I don't know why I ever worry. Everything always works out.