NOT ALWAYS WHAT WE PLANNED

Honored to be a part of family matriarch’s purchase

It was love at first sight. The three-car garage, the vaulted ceilings, the pristine white quartz throughout and the tile in-lays on the backsplash were just a few of the features this beautiful new model home featured. There were no grimy fingerprints on the walls or appliances. The flooring had never seen the bottom of anyone’s shoes.

No mud, no dirty dishes, no mismatched glasses and no dirty clothes strewn throughout the hallways.

This was a far cry from the home she had just left, the home she would drive back to a few short minutes later. In the past, she never would have looked. In her many decades of life, she had driven past homes like this by the dozens.

In fact, this wasn’t the first new home she had walked through.

Years back, in her younger days, she had done appraisals for several of these same homes, yet she had never looked at them with anything close to a desire to own one. She would gather her clipboard and camera and walk through jotting notes and taking pictures, just doing her job.

It wasn’t that she was unhappy in her current home; the one with the grimy fingerprints and dirty footprints. She had never owned a dishwasher and didn’t know what she could possibly be missing. Cooking really wasn’t her thing, so she made do with the old stove with two working burners and the wooden cutting board she put across her sink to use as a workstation when needed. She really didn’t have any wants. She was well enough off and had been wise with her monetary decisions.

She was content and she just had no need for a change. Until she did.

After the grandkids moved in, space became limited. They were young and they came with their mom and

their dog. They brought their toys, their clothes, their backpacks, and their outdoor voices.

Suddenly, the two-burner stove was not adequate, nor was the 2-foot counter space. The dishes piled up, the laundry piled up, the toys piled up and there was no place to put them.

Change was imminent.

She had never been afraid of change. She simply hadn’t needed any. Yet, this was a woman who would do what needed to be done.

She made a phone call and began the process.

She happened upon this home quite by accident.

She was just driving up the street on another errand and saw a home being constructed. She stopped. This was the one. It was a spec home that was miraculously “available.” She made another phone call, there was a meeting, and the offer was written. She then returned home, list in hand of what needed to be done to make this happen. Despite her age and her arthritic joints and muscle aches, she got to work. She engaged a task force of grandchildren and began sorting, hauling, boxing and storing. There was so much now she had to let go of, yet she didn’t have time for retrospection or regrets. She moved forward with purpose and resolve.

Finally, after months of daily disorder, nightly sleeplessness and relentless stress, all while working full-time and watching the grandkids while their mom worked and went to school, it was finished. With mattresses on the floor and all else in boxes, with the exception of her Christmas tree, shining brightly in the window, she rested. She had no regrets, the love she had wasn’t for the house, it was for the grandchildren.

I too have no regrets. It was a privilege to be a part of this. This is why I’m a Realtor.

Jen Fischer is an associate broker and Realtor. She can be reached at 801-645-2134 or [email protected]

Jen Fischer

Guest columnist