2104 Benbrook Drive, Carrollton, TX 75007.

That was the first address I ever learned to memorize. The first one I ever scribbled in crayon in elementary school.

It was also the first address I ever put on a drivers license. I still remember the first time I learned to back out of our curved, sloped driveway in my stick shift Hyundai hatchback.

It was the address that even as I typed it today, I have a flood of emotions and memories come at me like a tidal wave.

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Jason Crouch, fellow Texas Realtor and Active Rain member, created a special blogging contest asking AR members to blog about Memories of their Childhood Home. I think of that home time and again, and have reflected on that home more intently since beginning my career in real estate.

Why?

My childhood home serves as a lesson in SIMPLICITY. I'll explain...

...when I first entered real estate I was a Buyer's Agent for a team. I worked ONLY with buyers. There were wealthy buyers, buyers with some savings and others were just able to scrape up the required funds to close on their first home. But what I found, was that regardless of income levels, some buyers were conservative and chose to purchase a home that met their needs that fell well under what they qualified for. Others, on the opposite end of the spectrum, pushed the limit of exactly how much home they could afford. To them, bigger was better, and appearances meant everything.

...now rewind back to my childhood in that home on Benbrook Drive. The year was 1979 and I was two. We were a family of five living in a 1608 square foot home. My home did not have a gameroom or media room. It did not have a study. It only had one living area. Four bedrooms and 2 baths.

And guess what - I don't ever remember growing up thinking that I was deprived of living in what we would consider today a "small" house.

But here is what I DO remember:

• I remember the exact corner of the living room that our Christmas tree was displayed, down to almost every ornament that we brought home to hang on the tree. My mom never had a "themed" Christmas tree - only allowing a few certain colors or styles - we had a wide assortment of her 3 kids' best ornaments, hand made with love.
• I remember my bedroom - and the fact that while in Junior High and High School you could not see one square inch of the wall due to New Kids on the Block posters.
  
• I remember the UGLY wallpaper MURAL we had hung in our kitchen. Yes, it was a mural of some kind of tropical water garden. HID. E. OUS!
• I remember fighting, laughing and crying with my brother and sister. And of course, nearly dying in my garage from suffocation when my older sister (now business partner!) tried to choke me for refusal to help her clean (don't worry, we laugh about it now). 
• But I also remember the not so happy times, but I won't go on about those. All in all, I had a GREAT childhood!

You see, that house taught me many lessons.

**It taught me how to be a great mother - that your house doesn't have to be perfect (cosmetically) to provide a safe, fun and nurturing environment to raise my own kids.

**It taught me a lesson in financial responsibility. Who CARES about the Jones'. They're in debt, foreclosing on their house because they had to keep up with everyone else.

**It taught me how to be a better REALTOR. When possible, I like to remind my clients that the HOUSE they are about to buy will be their HOME. And there is a difference. I like to remind my clients that bigger isn't always better. More expensive homes don't mean happier homes.

I look at my kids and the memories I help them make in my home today and I look to my past to help guide my future. Do I try too hard to keep up with the Jones'? Do we really need a bigger home when we all fit so nicely in this one? Will my kids remember where we put our Christmas tree and celebrated holidays with the family?

There's value to reflecting upon your childhood...

Thanks for the challenge, Jason!