The House That Built Me

There’s a house in Dayton, Ohio, with white siding, blue shutters, and a lilac bush that still lingers in my memory.

I haven’t lived there in years, but I can still see it as clearly as if I just walked out the front door. I can hear the creak of the attic stairs, feel the worn velvet of the yellow rocking chair where I spent hours, and picture the landing at the top of the steps—just big enough for a chair, a small bookshelf, and a kid with too many thoughts.

That little landing became my world. It was where I listened to music on my bright yellow boombox, where I sat and stared out the window, dreaming of what was beyond my street. It was where I built entire universes out of Legos, following the instructions once before tearing them apart to create something new. It was where I learned that stories weren’t just something you read in books—they were something you could build, something you could feel, something that could change the way you saw the world.

It wasn’t always easy. I spent a lot of time in that room—grounded for grades that never quite met expectations, feeling separate from a family that seemed to fit together perfectly without me. I don’t think I even realized I was supposed to feel lonely, because I was never truly alone. I had music. I had my imagination. I had stories.

And stories made everything feel possible.

Every Home Has a Story

I think that’s why I see homes differently today. Some houses whisper their stories the moment you walk through the door. Others, you have to sit with for a while. But they all have something to say.

Home isn’t just walls and square footage—it’s where life happens. It’s the late-night talks, the kitchen dance parties, the fireflies caught in mason jars, the scraped knees, the bedtime stories, the big fights, and the even bigger apologies.

It’s where life becomes memories, and those memories become the stories we pass down.

Now, I get to take that belief and bring it to life in a whole new way. I get to help tell the stories of the homes I sell—not just their features, but their heart.

And soon, I’ll be telling those stories on a national stage.

I can’t wait to share what’s next.

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