Memorial Stone Three, The Most Important Real Estate Decision of my Dads Life!

  

    Real Estate decisions if you have not made one you will. In this climate of underwater mortgages and economic duress one is wise to be very careful when purchasing a home. There was a time when it was easier, when homes increased in value, when the American dream to own your home, was worth all the effort to achieve it.  Today, the dream still beckons, but oh how careful we need to be!

In the summer of 1976 our North Carolina family was moving back to Colorado. My dad much like a frontier scout went  out ahead, to Colorado and found a five bedroom brick house, with mature lilac and plum trees. It was located on a busy street at 104 South Garo, the backyard boasted an incredible view of majestic Pikes Peak, towering 14,110 feet! 

The purchase price, are you ready for this? $26,500! That is not a typo, no need to put any more numbers in the calculation, it was $26,500!  104 South Garo,  is just two houses away from 116 South Garo. That is important!

Little did I know as 15 year old that I was moving into a home, just two houses away from the love of a lifetime!

My dad made the most important real estate decision of his life, my life…and as you will soon know many other lives as well. Living at 116 South Garo was a breathtakingly beautiful 16 year old blonde named Laura!

My dad had purchased a house two doors up from the woman who has been my wife since 1981!

We first met when her brother Dale was throwing crab apples at the legs of my brother Mike as he was riding his bike. I went down to take care of business, and not long after confronting Dale, out came this young woman who told me,  “Leave my brother alone.” I explained what Dale had been doing, she quickly told him to stop…and I thought to myself  “Man, that mean girl sure is pretty” 

We became great friends over the next several years, and I would often seek her counsel about the mystery of girls and how to get them to like me. She was my "How to get girls to like me advisor!"

In time, we began to feel close to each other and in the spring of 1981 we were deeply in love. I asked her to be my wife after walking her into submission at the Broadmore Lake. She said ask me again, I did and I can still remember her turning to me and answering with an enthusiastic yes! I asked her why you asked me to ask you again, she replied “I knew I would never hear that question again, and I wanted to hear it twice!

To be loved, to find love is what many, if not most hearts yearn for. That for some...it does not happen, or is yet to happen, does nothing to diminish the desire to find in the eyes...and heart of someone else...love!

She is a remarkable woman, and those who know her...know that in her I found a real treasure.
  
The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the LORD. ( Proverbs 18:22). 

I simply don't know if I would be functioning now after my sister’s home going (To heaven, in September 2009) if it wasn't for Laura's, love and comfort. She first brought comfort to me and to my sister (and our Family) after my dad’s death in 1980...she was there to tell Shell that it was OK to cry...and her shoulder was available.

She has done the same for me!

In a love note to her a few summers ago, I tried in words to say what she means to me...

Just sitting here in my Wyoming study, on a overcast Friday morning, and I am thinking of you. When I do, my mind is flooded with warm and comforting memories. Memories over more than a quarter of a century of a sweet and gracious woman, memories of a kind heart, that has always been so unselfish, a woman who has always put others before herself.  I love the way you carry yourself, such class, such sweetness. Thank you for being such a strong and affirming friend. Whenever I am near you, I feel so welcomed, so needed…so valued! I have been blessed a thousand times over…for the honor the privilege…the joy of knowing you! Never forget how much I love you, how much I need you!

I will love you forever…then when we reach the end of forever…I will love you forever more!

The following song reminds me of my bride, and it reminds me that a what appears to be a “simple” real estate transaction can lead to fulfillment and love! Thanks Dad! And thank you Heavenly Father, for directing my dad to the greatest real estate decision of his life...and mine!

I've watched the sunrise in your eyes 
And I've seen the tears fall like the rain
You've seen me fight so brave and strong
You've held my hand when I'm afraid

We've watched the seasons come and go
We'll see them come and go again
But in winter's chill, or summer's breeze
One thing will not be changin'
We will dance
When the sun is shining
In the pouring rain
We'll spin and we'll sway
And we will dance
When the gentle breeze
Becomes a hurricane
The music will play

And I'll take your hand, and hold you close to me…and we will dance…

If just now you have someone that you love near....tell them, hold them.....and dance!